4 ms·

It is sad that any nice font looks like crap with Windows font rendering.

ComputerGuru 7y ago
Windows does not have crap font rendering, Windows has advanced hinting support that varies by typeface and is infinitely customizable. Other operating systems apply a global hinting that typically discards the font designer's own preferences for how the font should look (especially at smaller scales). Fonts without that manual hinting look like crap on Windows because Windows does not force through its own rendering/hinting/kerning overrides. And all that is probably besides the point: if you're referring to how the fonts are rendered within a webpage, all the major browsers use their own custom rendering via one (finely tuned) set of parameters and interfaces for macOS/Linux/etc and another (rudimentary) for Windows. And most webfonts do not include any sort of hinting instructions in the payload, so even if the original typeface had manual hinting and would render well on a proper type engine normally, when served over the web even to a browser doing things right it'll still appear horrible. In case you didn't know, Microsoft is really big on typography, and has commissioned a number of incredibly beautiful typefaces that render perfectly under Windows (and other operating systems).
- yellowapple 7y ago
  I don't think I've seen a single typeface that actually looks good on Windows 8 or later, though. Even Linux does a better job (with or without subpixel rendering). Maybe I just haven't viewed enough fonts on recent Windows versions to have encountered the better examples, though; are there any fonts (to your knowledge) that do look especially good on Windows (and/or better than they do on macOS or a FreeType-using Unix-like OS)?
  - GoblinSlayer 7y ago
    https://abload.de/img/tmpxwk2y.png https://abload.de/img/tmpxwk2y.png this is Verdana on Windows.
- pgtan 7y ago
  > Microsoft is really big on typography, you mean that big: http://www.unics.uni-hannover.de/nhtcapri/quotation-marks.html http://www.unics.uni-hannover.de/nhtcapri/quotation-marks.ht... not even able to provide correct quotation marks!
  - Noumenon72 7y ago
    What's wrong with the red squares?
- dimgl 7y ago
  It doesn't matter if Microsoft is really big on typography if it looks like garbage on Windows. I agree with the OP; most open fonts look absolutely horrible on Windows.
  - boterock 7y ago
    This is exactly what I mean, also, if you try to make them look better with that lousy truetype wizard, it tries to make you choose what looks better without any context, and if you pick some wrong choices you fuck up the whole font rendering in the OS, and there is no clear way to revert to defaults... nasty experience nonetheless
- moocowtruck 7y ago
  windows font rendering is amazing; glad someone who knows what they're talking about here
- boterock 7y ago
  I would make a distinction between typography and font rendering. MS has some nice type faces, made with a lot of love and care. But after reading this http://www.antigrain.com/research/font_rasterization/index.html http://www.antigrain.com/research/font_rasterization/index.h... you can only conclude that font rendering could be a lot better... I bet it isn't because of 'legacy'

Windows does not have crap font rendering, Windows has advanced hinting support that varies by typeface and is infinitely customizable. Other operating systems apply a global hinting that typically discards the font designer's own preferences for how the font should look (especially at smaller scales). Fonts without that manual hinting look like crap on Windows because Windows does not force through its own rendering/hinting/kerning overrides. And all that is probably besides the point: if you're referring to how the fonts are rendered within a webpage, all the major browsers use their own custom rendering via one (finely tuned) set of parameters and interfaces for macOS/Linux/etc and another (rudimentary) for Windows. And most webfonts do not include any sort of hinting instructions in the payload, so even if the original typeface had manual hinting and would render well on a proper type engine normally, when served over the web even to a browser doing things right it'll still appear horrible. In case you didn't know, Microsoft is really big on typography, and has commissioned a number of incredibly beautiful typefaces that render perfectly under Windows (and other operating systems).

yellowapple 7y ago
I don't think I've seen a single typeface that actually looks good on Windows 8 or later, though. Even Linux does a better job (with or without subpixel rendering). Maybe I just haven't viewed enough fonts on recent Windows versions to have encountered the better examples, though; are there any fonts (to your knowledge) that do look especially good on Windows (and/or better than they do on macOS or a FreeType-using Unix-like OS)?
- GoblinSlayer 7y ago
  https://abload.de/img/tmpxwk2y.png https://abload.de/img/tmpxwk2y.png this is Verdana on Windows.
pgtan 7y ago
> Microsoft is really big on typography, you mean that big: http://www.unics.uni-hannover.de/nhtcapri/quotation-marks.html http://www.unics.uni-hannover.de/nhtcapri/quotation-marks.ht... not even able to provide correct quotation marks!
- Noumenon72 7y ago
  What's wrong with the red squares?
dimgl 7y ago
It doesn't matter if Microsoft is really big on typography if it looks like garbage on Windows. I agree with the OP; most open fonts look absolutely horrible on Windows.
- boterock 7y ago
  This is exactly what I mean, also, if you try to make them look better with that lousy truetype wizard, it tries to make you choose what looks better without any context, and if you pick some wrong choices you fuck up the whole font rendering in the OS, and there is no clear way to revert to defaults... nasty experience nonetheless
moocowtruck 7y ago
windows font rendering is amazing; glad someone who knows what they're talking about here
boterock 7y ago
I would make a distinction between typography and font rendering. MS has some nice type faces, made with a lot of love and care. But after reading this http://www.antigrain.com/research/font_rasterization/index.html http://www.antigrain.com/research/font_rasterization/index.h... you can only conclude that font rendering could be a lot better... I bet it isn't because of 'legacy'