Safari "Font Smoothing" Remedy Needed

Safari "Font Smoothing" Remedy

Is there a way to get rid of "font smoothing" altogether while using Safari for Windows?

I downloaded the BETA version of "Apple Safari for Windows 3.0.3" and was surprised to find that it is incredibly fast at loading the webpages - probably the fastest browser I've ever used.

However the Safari's font rendering is blurry and strange and there are only three options regarding it's ability to use font smoothing; none of which gets rid of font smoothing entirely (turns it off, I mean).

BTW, I'm using Windows XP and a 17" LCD monitor.

If anyone has a solution to this problem I'd certainly appreciate it!

Thanks, COMPUABLE

 

Its not a problem, its how Apple does it.

It could be that I am used to OS X, but it doesnt appear blurry to me.

I like it. AFAIK, there is no turning it off.

 

Thanks for your input and opinion Adrynalyne.

I use Windows as well as Mac computers at home. I actually have two G4 dual Macs (both using OSX 10.4) and have always enjoyed using Safari on them - never even noticed the font smoothing before. It just seems rather odd to me that there is not a "none" option for Safari for Windows Font Smoothing.

The setting in the Safari program's preferences lets users choose between three font-smoothing styles/settings (light, medium or strong). Adjusting these font smoothing options not make the problem go away.

I did some further research and it would appear that Safari has its own "internal" font smoothing which can't be turned off since Safari doesn't use ClearType on Windows for some odd reason. It appears that I'm not the only user out there with this complaint. Some people like fuzzy, pretty text, other people like the non-FS text and using an LCD without getting a headache.

I have never liked using font smoothing at all and always turn it off if that's possible. Windows does have font smoothing although it's not enabled by default on the PC. But Safari has chosen not to use it, resulting in text which plain and simply doesn't look clear to me.

Cleartype had always looked out of focus to me; whether using an LCD or CRT monitor. I prefer sharpness over design. The first time I originally saw cleartype was on a work computer and I thought something was wrong with the monitor (Someone had used my computer and changed the Cleartype settings).

In any case, thanks again for your comments.

 

Safari doesnt use cleartype...

 

>> Have you tried ClearTweak? plodr <<

Thanks for the suggestion but unfortunately; as Adrynalyne pointed out, Safari 3.0 for Windows doesn't use ClearType, (it has it's own internal font smoothing mechanisms) so ClearTweak would be of no use.

Too bad, because the browser was really fast and I liked it a lot. However, I cannot stand using Cleartype because although some folks like it I do not because it gives me a headache, so I finally decided to uninstall Safari 3.0 from my PC.

In any case, thanks again for your suggestions regarding this. The Windows version of the Safari browser program is still in BETA so perhaps I will try again in the future; if the final versions eventually allow users the option to 'entirely disable' the font smoothing.

Good Luck!

 

If you are looking into crazy fast browsers...check out K-meleon.

 

>> If you are looking into crazy fast browsers...check out K-meleon Adrynalyne <<

Oh thanks, Adrynalyne. I'll most definitely give K-meleon a try.

For several years I used MyIE2 and really liked it because it was very fast; and I especially the "tabbed" browsing toolbar and the many rich features, such as the customizable Ad-Blocker as well as the highly customizable interface.

Another thing I liked about it was the fact that; although the program was incredibly popular, the thing that impressed me the most was that whenever I wrote to the MyIE2 author Changyou who is a Chinese developer, any question or suggestion, I would usually get a personal reply within hours of being sent!

The new developer Jeff Chen, took over the reigns from the original author of My IE2 around the year 2000 and then completely rebuilt the browser in 2003, renaming it to "Maxthon."

The transition from MyIE2 to Maxthon was satisfactory however, a short time after is was first released, I tried Firefox and have used it ever since. I'm very happy with Firefox but I'm always looking for something new.

In any case, thanks again for the K-Melon suggestion. I'll give it a try this weekend and see how it goes.

Good Luck!