Font Rendering in Safari 3.1 - Windows Version
Now that all the discussion around Apple pushing Safari on Windows users is winding down, people are starting to focus on the improvements in the newest browser for Windows.
So far the biggest complaint seems to be still be centered on the font rendering. Ars posted a review today and reviewer Ken Fisher had this to say about the use of OS X font rendering in an app for Windows:
I know some readers are going to e-mail me and extol the ways in which Safari’s font rendering encapsulates the ephemeral origins of the written word or some other such nonsense, but it comes down to a basic point: all of the anti-aliased text on Windows is rendered using ClearType. When your app uses a different scheme, it looks broken because it looks different.
I thought this when Safari was originally released for Windows and I’m thinking it again - this has to be a personal preference rather than a default fact. Reading on Safari in Windows has never looked blurry to me, at any text size.
I feel confident saying this. A big part of the reason I prefer OS X over Windows is simply the look and feel. When doing comparisons between the two, a lot of focus is placed on features and compatibility. But I think that even if people cannot articulate it, OS X just feels more comfortable (I’m referring to people who have actually tried the platform). And to me, that comfort is largely imbued by the gorgeous way text is displayed. Using Safari in Windows feels the same to me as it does in OS X.
Now I’m not downplaying the fact that a ported application should behave as a native application (we certainly complain that Firefox is not Mac-ish often enough). Nor am I stating that some people do not find text blurry in Safari on Windows. I’m simply stating my belief that this is a preference rather than a hard fact and should be treated as such.
If people want to complain about this whole scenario, I say keep focusing on the sneaky addition of the browser in the software updater. But once the browser is actually on a Windows machine, I say kudos to Apple for giving all those poor folks a little taste of what they’re missing.
