I am still trying to transition from Windows XP to Windows 7, and while I can do it, there is one huge issue I cannot solve, and that is the fonts. Perhaps I have been using XP for too long, but I have grown so accustomed to the fonts that the new ones in 7 actually hurt my eyes and give me a headache. I tried adjusting them to a larger size but that makes them bolder and more moronic looking. I realize this sounds picky but I do a lot of reading online, and I want it to all look the same. You would think there is apparently a fix for this, but it doesn’t appear that way. Some sites advise adjusting or turning off ClearType. I tried that and it only makes things blurrier or nearly unreadable. The geeks talk about anti aliasing and such, but all I want is the kinder-and-gentler-to-my-eyes XP fonts back, and I don’t understand why there isn’t a fix for that.
I will illustrate with screen shots of a few paragraphs from the same Wiki web page.
First, Windows 7:
And here’s the XP version:
I realize the pictures really don’t fully explain the problems I have with not seeing what I have become so used to seeing, but it’s very frustrating, and if anyone has an idea of how to fix it, I’m all ears. And eyes.
(Hell, even the fonts in this blog look different. Unpleasantly so.)
MORE: Here are the screenshots of the first paragraph of this post.
First, Windows 7:
And Windows XP:
I prefer the XP fonts, dammit.
Why are they doing this to people?
UPDATE: After more comments, I tried setting the Firefox fonts to be the same in both computers, which they now are. But the FF fonts are only for FF itself, and not the content it displays from other sources, which is rendered differently. Two versions from email (of Gringo’s comment) will hopefully illustrate.
First, Firefox in W7:
And the same email as shown in Firefox on the XP computer:
Comments
13 responses to “I wanna remain in the Stone Age, damn it!”
Eric, as a printer I deal with typefaces daily and can sympathize totally. The XP face you have displayed appears to be in the Universal Condensed family. It is a very readable font because it’s condensed lite face. We don’t read letters, but words, and the light book faces don’t glare as much in digital format. You see the word clearly and distinctly, without noticing the letters.
The Windows 7 face is similar to Helvetica Medium. Note that the lower case letters are 2/3 to 3/4 the height of the capital letters. Reading such a face is very close to reading all caps or all lower case. We are thrown off trying to distinguish the beginning of sentences, and recognizing capitalized proper nouns. To see what I mean, compare the boldface word Neanderthal at the beginning of the first sentence in each case.
In addition, the kerning or space between letters, is not adequate in the Windows 7 font. Medium and bold faces in digital format must allow extra spacing or the eye runs the letters together creating an annoying blur when reading.
These problems would be exaggerated on a small screen.
I have no solution for you, but at least you know why it bothers you, and that whoever is responsible at Microsoft is clueless. I’m guessing some geeky kid in his or her 20s.
The last screen shots of your post aren’t as bad as the Wiki pages, but still not good. They shouldn’t use a medium face.
Eric,
I’m using Win 7 and my fonts look like your XP fonts. It may have something to do with how I did the migration. That was 5 years ago and I have no idea what I did to make it come out that way.
And I too am picky about type faces and the way something looks when printed. I was an outlaw printer for a while back in the 60s.
Like Simon, my Win 7 looks more like your XP. Don’t know why as I didn’t fiddle with it out of the box a year ago.
Did find this via Windows Help (and Windows 7 For Dummies)on how to change fonts and such:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/change-windows-fonts#1TC=windows-7
Thanks everyone! I already tried what is suggested at that last link.
BTW, here’s a guy who is having EXACTLY the same problem as I am, and it drove him crazy:
http://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/768902-windows-7-fonts-i-hate-them-requested-assistance/
***QUOTE***
Is there anyway to make Windows 7 fonts look in XP? Windows 7 fonts are driving me crazy! They make my eyes hurt. Literally, I am straining my eyes. I know there are people out there that love them but I hate them, seriously, I can’t use W7 with those fonts.
My fonts on XP are Tahoma, Size 8 at 96dpi (which is the default DPI) and the fonts are really nice.
With W7, I choose Tahoma, size 8 and it looks nothing like in XP! The fonts DPI is set to 100% and Size 8 at 100% is too small + the shape of the Tahoma version in W7 is nothing like in XP. It looks squashed. It’s like running X.ORG! What has happened? I tried going through the ClearType settings wizard but could not get the desired result. In my XP, I have ClearType turned off and I recently turned it ON but either way, the fonts are really nice.
So please, if anyone knows some way to make my W7 fonts look identical to XP literally, please speak up.
***END QUOTE***
They couldn’t help. Like him, I also have the Tahoma font, size 8, in XP, and one of the things I tried was changing 7 from Segoe to Tahoma, but it is either NOT the same Tahoma or is rendered differently.
Oh, and I loved this guy’s advice:
***QUOTE***
go back to Windows XP where your fonts look better. Windows 7 has much better font rendering than old XP does.
***END QUOTE***
Great. Going back is not much of an option, is it? And even though I hate it, it’s “better.”
EAT YOUR BROCCOLI, IT’S GOOD FOR YOU!
If you have Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, or Enterprise , you might consider Windows XP mode/Virtual XP/Virtual PC. That might do it, though I haven’t had any success in using those programs, so I can’t advise you on how to do it.
Here are some suggestion I used to Setup Windows 7. You also might consider Dr-Mercurys-Computer-Corner, from the same person. Though from reading your blog I get the impression that overall you are more savvy than I when it comes to tweaking computers, so you may find the above unnecessary.
When I changed from Windows XP to Windows 7 a year and a half ago, I found Windows 7 to be more convenient. It began and turned off faster. The file organization was easier, or at least the way I set it up on Windows 7, compared to XP, was easier.
I could have used Office Pro 2003 or Office Pro 2007, both of which I already had on disc, or Windows 2010. I stopped using the freebie abbreviated Windows 2010 which came with the computer, because use of Windows 2010 came with annoying ads to “UPGRADE AND PURCHASE.” I used Windows Office Pro 2007 as my default, but use Windows Pro 2003 for Access, as I find the 2007 version of Access much less user friendly. As a result, I have THREE different versions of Windows Office on my computer: 2003, 2007, and 2010. Oh well.
I didn’t encounter your problem per se with font changes from XP to Windows 7, but in general I do have a problem with reading online documents. I find it harder to maintain attention for more than 5-10 minutes on an online document, which makes reading long online documents problematic. I solved this problem with e-readers. The memoir of a family friend had been online for years. I never finished reading the memoir online, but once I transferred the memoir to an e-reader, I quickly finished reading it.
If I want to read an extended online document, I download it and use Calibre to get it into a format suitable for an e-reader. I prefer the Nook for reading PDF docs, as for most PDF docs it can change font size, which a Kindle cannot do. All a Kindle can do is zoom in or out. For certain online PDF docs which a Nook cannot change font size, I can crop the PDF. A Kindle Fire is better for reading cropped PDF files than a Nook SimpleTouch.
Though downloading to an e-reader is not convenient for reading standard short web-logs.
You DO know that you can still use XP after support for it goes away, right? It’s not that big a deal, man.
apple co-religionibought I am using an e-mac I bought so long ago I don’t remember but it must be over 10 years old! And stll get by on 10.3 software!
Is this just for text in your browser? I didn’t see any examples not from the internet.
I remember having a similar problem when I got 7, but can’t remember how I fixed it. But I do remember the new font I chose not being perfect, but it was better and I did get used to it.
That said, if you are using a current Firefox browser, you can try going into tools>options>content where the default font settings are (I’m using Times New Roman, size 16).
If that doesn’t work, try going to Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization > Display > and on the left you should see links for Adjusting ClearType Text, and Setting custom text size.
I think Gringo might be on to something,
I use W7 and Office 2007, which contains its own complete set of fonts, including xp, 98, 95 styles. That said I didn’t make any changes to my machine when I set up W7 and my FF browser renders your website just like your xp screenshot.
Also, have you tried installing any type sets that are available?
just my 2c,
B
Thanks again everyone. Stan I set up FF exactly the same way on both computers, but the font settings involve the browser’s own internal fonts and don’t seem to have anything to do with how the actual content is displayed. (See update with new screenshots.) Gringo, the Doc links are great (and helped me with other issues), but I couldn’t find much about changing fonts. I have already set all W7 fonts to be Tahoma, same as XP, but that did not do it.
Eric,I repeat the first paragraph of yesterday’s e-mail. Do you have Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, or Ultimate editions? If so, you can try running your computer in XP Mode.