Cleartype font option on macs?

[Sweener88]

Hi,
i just switched and i was wondering if theres a font type option that makes it look nice and smooth like on windows?

 

[sjshaw]

Hi,
i just switched and i was wondering if theres a font type option that makes it look nice and smooth like on windows?

It's done automatically by the OS, but you can tune it a bit. Check the "Appearance" preference pane at the bottom.

 

[gekko513]

The default font smoothing in OS X is in fact smoother than the Cleartype on Windows. Cleartype is more jagged and sharp, while OS X makes small characters look more like they would do if printed out or scaled up.

 

[TheMonarch]

I like cleartype much better in windows than I do in OS X, since OS X makes them look BOLD for some reason.

 

[gekko513]

I like cleartype much better in windows than I do in OS X, since OS X makes them look BOLD for some reason.

It's actually Windows that makes small fontsizes thinner than they're supposed to be. Some may prefer the way Cleartype looks since the letters are a bit sharper, but it makes the weight and relative thickness of the text appear to change when you increase or decrease the font size on Windows. The effect is particularly apparent if you print a document with a small sized Arial font on Windows. The look of the printed document is very different from what you see on the screen.

OS X is better at representing the thickness of the letters even at small font sizes.