operating system itself allows for very little customization of ClearType; you
basically choose between on and off. Microsoft՚s ClearType Tuner PowerToy,
though, allows some control over how it renders. Windows 7 brings a new
rendering platform, named DirectWrite, that introduces subpixel
positioning and y-direction anti-aliasing. As seen in this presentation, the
advances made with DirectWrite are quite impressive and sure to be
adopted by other vendors.
Apple՚s Quartz 2D now renders type using Core Text, which has recently
replaced Apple Type Services. The Quartz 2D displays type much closer to
the typeface՚s original design, which is similar to how you might expect to
see it in print form.
While this seems like a good idea from a design perspective, it doesn՚t hold
up with legibility, at least not on common LCD screens. Quartz text could
conceivably appear much better if we were using higher-resolution
monitors. Because Apple has complete control over both the operating
system and the hardware that it runs on, perhaps a 200 PPI iMac is just
around the corner. We can hope!
Browsers
The most current browsers today all inherit the anti-alias settings of the
operating system. But with one anomaly. Firefox 3 in Mac OS X seems to
inherit the operating system՚s settings but also seems to apply more
precise grid-fitting and kerning. Perhaps Mozilla is attempting to improve
on Quartz՚s blurry rendering.
Unfortunately, we have no way to control or even tell how the user՚s
browser will render text. What we can do is understand the nuances of each