Yes wheel works in other applications including vectorworks.
Having just openned 12.01 again, I note that I am getting the same functions working ( the drop down list does not scrole with the mouse wheel, only the scrole bar, so maybe that is all I should be expecting.
The object info palette itself does scrole with the wheel.
Main difference between 12.5 and 12.01 appear to be the width of the drop down box - in 12.01 the scrole bar always remains visible and font descriptions begin to dissapear when the palette width is decreased. - In 12.5, the scrole bar dissapears and font description remains visible.
Not a major problem, but visible workin area is reduced in width by 15mm