Finale 2012, 25 - Mac OSX 10.11.6
These are default behaviors with PrintMusic and can't be changed. You'd need full Finale for that.
Finale has no mechanism for object layering. You might want to reconsider adding the text to the graphic. However, not knowing exactly what you're after, I realize this might be unworkable.
This is a known bug and Make Music is promising an update soon to correct it. Meanwhile, the solution seems to be to not reshape the palette.
2003 won't work on a contemporary Mac. If you owned a license for 2003, you should be able to get the upgrade to the latest v25. Can you look up your customer profile from way long ago? You might h...
Have you tried Utilities > Update Smart Word Extensions and Hyphens? When you open the file in Finale 2014.5, do the hyphens show?
I'm sorry, I didn't know 2014.5 wasn't still being offered. I'd suggest you get into contact with Make Music directly and explain the problem. They should be able to set you up with 2014.5.
This is normal with your particular OS. The upgrade to Finale 2014.5 is free and addressed this problem.
I'd use the MIDI Tool. Select the MIDI Tool and highlight the passage you want muted. In the MIDI Tool Menu, make sure "Key Velocities" is checked, then go down to "Set To…" and type 0 (zero).
With the Playback Controls palette showing, hit spacebar to start playback, again to pause, and again to resume playback.
Where did you get an upgrade for $125? Make Music advertises it for $149. If you got the upgrade from Make Music, contact them, explain the problem, and it's extremely likely you'll get a refund....