Picking up on what Chris Coyier said, I think one reason why this isn’t discussed more is partly due to designers’ ignorance of the cross-platform issues. As Jeffery explained, Macs seem to deal with embedded fonts a lot better than their Windows cousins, leaving some designers unaware of how the other half lives.
Speaking as a Windows user, I’ve experienced a lot of disappointment while browsing a site like Font Squirrel, which has many lovely faces that wilt on screen under Vista and Firefox 3.5.
There are a few survivors, however. Gentium Basic holds up quite well under all the conditions in which I’ve tested it, including body copy sizes. It’s a rather large font though, which may make it impractical to embed. And even though I think it’s looks nice, I’ll admit it’s only marginally sexier than say, Georgia.
Matt Barnes
Well, I’m glad someone finally said it.
Picking up on what Chris Coyier said, I think one reason why this isn’t discussed more is partly due to designers’ ignorance of the cross-platform issues. As Jeffery explained, Macs seem to deal with embedded fonts a lot better than their Windows cousins, leaving some designers unaware of how the other half lives.
Speaking as a Windows user, I’ve experienced a lot of disappointment while browsing a site like Font Squirrel, which has many lovely faces that wilt on screen under Vista and Firefox 3.5.
There are a few survivors, however. Gentium Basic holds up quite well under all the conditions in which I’ve tested it, including body copy sizes. It’s a rather large font though, which may make it impractical to embed. And even though I think it’s looks nice, I’ll admit it’s only marginally sexier than say, Georgia.
Great article!