Apr 27
Fontrendering on Mac OS X and Windows XP
2004 at 04.03 am posted by Veerle
I was reading Jeffrey Zeldman’s post ”I would like to buy the world a Mac” where he talks about using pixellated text when designing in Photoshop because most of the world will see it that way. He has a point there because not everybody has updated to Windows XP and even if they are ClearType is off by default. Most users I know don’t even have a clue that it is there in the first place.
First I don’t want to start a Windows - Mac thing here but bear with me for a moment. To make things clear I love ClearType and it’s always switched on and yes it is a large improvement, specially if you’re working all day on Panther (Mac OS X 10.3) and then have to check something on PC you’ll appreciate ClearType. This brings me to Robert Scoble (Microsoft Longhorn/Tablet PC evangelist). He picked up on Jeffery’s post and stated that ClearType is FAR FAR superior on PC then on Mac.
I’ve collected some screenshots to prove a point. To make things clear both screenshots where taken from an LCD screen. On PC from a DELL 1705 and on Mac from a 22 inch Cinema Display. So ClearType was fine-tuned for an LCD display on XP and you’ll need an LCD to see it right. I’ve checked on an iMac with a CRT display and even there the difference is noticeable. But to see it as intended you need an LCD display.
As you can clearly notice the Mac font rendering is better in the rendering of the 2,5 figures in the article and even the letters. It looks smoother on Mac. Also on Mac, Firefox and Safari look the same but they do not not on PC, only IE renders things better especially the underlining (the line is ticker in FireFox). Dotted lines are better in FireFox but that’s another story. In my book that’s also important because my browser of choice on PC is FireFox. All modern browsers look equal on the Mac side, they do not on PC.
For me personally it is still not just this Cleartype thing that makes me love my Mac but the overall user experience. To prove a point I toke two more shots. One from Windows Media player 9 series skin and one from a widget called CPU portal from konfabulator. You don’t have to be genius here to see that Windows XP still has trouble with rounded shapes because all the edges are jagged. Ok, from what I have been reading Longhorn will fix this but until then I would like to say that we have still have the edge. And don’t get me started about all those headaches IE sometime causes when dealing with CSS issues ;-)
What it comes down to is that you have to use both systems on a daily basis to make that kind of assumptions and clearly that’s not the case with Scoble. Windows XP was and is a strong step forward and until I actually see Longhorn in real life I have my doubts about all the hype like the WINFS file system and superior rendering etc, just as I always are with the same amount of hype on our side ;-) Seeing is believing is my motto.
But I only have one message left for Robert Scoble: Fix Internet Explore first and after that is done worry about making it better then on Mac. But until this happens, Apple is still listening to its users and fixing things in Safari. See yesterday’s post for proof ;-)
9served
1
I personally prefer the ClearType in the screenshots, but I guess up to a certain point it’s a matter of personal preference.
For what it’s worth: as you can see in this screenshot of Winamp the rounded edge problem is not an OS weakness, it’s an application thing.
2
“Fix Internet Explore first [then] worry about making it better then on Mac”
I couldn’t agree more; anti-aliased type isn’t top of many people’s list when designing for the web, but squashing/beating shoddy CSS support in certain browsers definately is.
3
My wife’s company recently upgraded all their PCs to Win XP, and the engineer that did it set Cleartype to ON at each installation.
After a few days everyone complained that it was giving them headaches, and someone switched Cleartype to OFF on all the machines.
I understand that this is a perceptual thing, some might like more anti-aliasing some might want less.
Apple solved this problem by providing settings for how much anti-aliasing is used. Does XP have similar settings?
4
@Michel: Windows Media Player is a Microsoft program so that’s why I toke it. You should assume that they know how to build it right with their own operating system.
My point here is that on Mac you don’t have pay any special attention for avoiding jagged items. It is all handled by the Quartz engine. There is no such rendering in Windows XP. That’s also why I was referring to Longhorn.
5
I have to agree with Robert. I tried it once for an evening, and I had the impression my screen was smaller. Things get bigger just like that, like fonts on websites. I got a headache as well.
Mucho better without Cleartype. It’s nice sometimes when you see screenshots of things, it all looks nice. But I couldn’t use it on a daily base, I guess.
6
That screenshot from Winamp looks good because it is a setting in Winamp to provide smooth edges and borders. So the fact that it’s not build into Windows XP says it all. All other icons, apps etc can’t use these settings and will still look jagged.
In Mac OS X all apps, icons etc have smooth edges because the support for such stuff is build into the graphic layer of the operating system.
7
I have to agree with Michel and say I prefer the windows screenshot over the mac. Maybe it’s because I’m just used to it or something, but the fonts on macs are so thick and balloony.
I do agree on the rounded edge rendering in XP, it sucks.
Also, you can tweak Cleartype’s settings online through Microsofts website at
http://www.microsoft.com/typography/cleartype/cleartypeactivate.htm
8
Geert: icons in XP can have smooth edges, but I do agree on the rounded edges.
My point was that it wasn’t a weakness in the capabilities of the OS but a conscious choice by Microsoft.
I remember reading once why the windows weren’t alpha blended like the icons--probably something to do with performance issues.
Go figure, as if they couldn’t make it degrade gracefully…
9
Add me to the list of people who get eyestrain with ClearType.