Having a user setting would probably satisfy everyone, but I think we need to look at the application. In my opinion which is based on pragmatism, readability and respecting the limitations of the pixel grid (until we have 200 DPI displays) should outweigh the sacred art of typography if we’re talking about regular desktop applications like web browsers. If we’re talking about default settings for Desktop Publishing applications, they should default to respecting the typography.

But again, users should be permitted to override the settings and that would keep everyone happy. The fact that Apple insists on prioritizing the sacred art of typography is unfortunate since most of us need readability for the vast majority of applications.

I find it humorious that this discussion is even occurring at this juncture in technology. Almost akin to which fonts look better on a dot matrix printer…really you’d rather not see dots at all…but if you are still on a crappy printer you talk about things like this in this way.

That’s a pretty long ‘juncture’. We’ve had 72-96ppi monitors since the mid 80’s and I haven’t seen any plans for 300 ppi monitors any time soon.

This is totally subjective dependent on the font chosen and on screen resolution. It only even looks this close on blocky san-serif “western” fonts.

Once you get off cheap crappy low resolution/dpi monitors, the true letter forms look soooo much better then the distorted pixely garbage windows pushes out. Pick any font other then arial/verdana/tahoma and you will be blown away at the difference.

At these low crappy resolutions, check out any font with serifs or other accents and tell me which looks better. wow. They look so much better when rendered correct to their intended hintings and forms like apple does. Check out small times new roman samples etc. Only with boxy arial like fonts does the boxy distorted rendering looks like it is crisper….yeah ms!

Not to mention the western centric view here, Asian and Arabic fonts are almost unusable in the windows pixel distortion method, really ugly, but very clear and sharp when rendered true to letter form. Completely usable and beautiful.

I find it humorious that this discussion is even occurring at this juncture in technology. Almost akin to which fonts look better on a dot matrix printer…really you’d rather not see dots at all…but if you are still on a crappy printer you talk about things like this in this way.

What we need now is not a fancy rendering engine. We need typeface designs that are aware and informed by the conditions under which they will be rendered, and adjust themselves accordingly. Sadly, with the way the “politics of tech” are going, this does not look likely.

I agree with you there. A new family of fonts, specifically designed for the web, because in this day and age we can’t just use an old font for something new and technological. It’s like trying to use a car from the 1930’s to win a formula one race.

would it not be easier to admit that safari on windows is substandard?

ARRRGGHHH. Is that what you honestly think design is about? Just physical beauty? If that was the case we’d be called *web stylists*, not web designers. Clear visual communication should be concern number 1.

With the juggling between blaming apple, or microsoft for butchering typefaces, or making type unreadable, I’m surprised that nobody has thought to put some blame on the typeface designers. The fact is, our typical family of fonts on the web were either designed for a computer that renders small type without anti-aliasing, or simply designed for print with no concern for the screen at all.

What we need now is not a fancy rendering engine. We need typeface designs that are aware and informed by the conditions under which they will be rendered, and adjust themselves accordingly. Sadly, with the way the “politics of tech” are going, this does not look likely.

““The very fact that FireFox is spell checking this form keeps me in their camp.”

“Safari for Windows does this too. Edit > Spelling > Check Spelling While Typing”

Umm … sorry, not in my Safari … I turned it on but it does not work … it won’t even put a check mark beside it in the menu. Maybe it’s a beta thing…

Safari for Windows does this too. Edit > Spelling > Check Spelling While Typing.