Blurry Text in Windows 8

You have pretty much summed up my own personal take on this terrible situation!

But it gets worse.

As a frequent user (and long time admirer) of Google Chrome, I am now dismayed to find that the latest version (37.x) now works with DirectDraw (for fonts).

Now, this has been heralded as a big *improvement* - but for me it is _disaster_.

Why? Because as I had managed to disable the ironically named "ClearType" (by unchecking the Performance Settings > Visual Effects > Smooth Edges of Screen Fonts option) - all of a sudden the (previously *great!* Web Fonts headings (etc.) in Google Chrome NOW NO LONGER WORK! (and appeared majorly jagged - very poor).

The solution to that problem?? - Well, the only one I can find is (yes, you guessed it..) - CHECKING / turning on the "Smooth Edges of Screen Fonts" option!

So... I am now left with decent headings and fonts on Chrome again (though unless it is my imagination they don't look at good as they did previously.. / pre "DirectDraw" support..) - but worst of all just about ALL of my Windows 8.1. UI has the **** / jagged / blurry / greyed-out text that I had previously.

In short: A nightmare.

I too am a LONG standing MicroSoft power-user - but this situation is a complete and utter disaster.

@MicroSoft: Repeat After Me:

"A Desktop Computer is a Desktop Computer, not a Tablet. A Tablet is a Tablet, not a Desktop Computer."

"A Desktop Computer is a Desktop Computer, not a Tablet. A Tablet is a Tablet, not a Desktop Computer."

"A Desktop Computer is a Desktop Computer, not a Tablet. A Tablet is a Tablet, not a Desktop Computer."

"A Desktop Computer is a Desktop Computer, not a Tablet. A Tablet is a Tablet, not a Desktop Computer."

"A Desktop Computer is a Desktop Computer, not a Tablet. A Tablet is a Tablet, not a Desktop Computer."

[etc.]

I only hope that they finally see what a serious issue this is. I do NOT even want "smooth" text in most of my applications!!! Just the Web Browser will do. Everything else (Textpad, FileZilla, PaintShop Pro, Office, Etc. Etc. looks perfectly FINE with so-called "old fashioned" text (i.e. that with no anti-aliasing).

Aaarrgghh!!

John.

Wow - great tip there Torsten, thanks!

John.

I did a clean install of Windows 8 RTM when it became available.

The blurry font rendering that plagued the Preview versions has remained.

It is particularly bad in IE10 and Office 2013.

No amount of adjustment with Clear Type tuner helps much.

I have tried all the fixes recommended like ticking "use Software rendering instead of GPU rendering" in IE10 and in Options in Office 2013.

It makes absolutely no difference.

I installed Windows 8 on completely different hardware to check if it was a graphics card issue. The poor font rendering was still there.

I am currently dual booting Windows 7 and 8 on the same PC. Fonts in Windows 7 remain perfectly clear. In windows 8 they are so bad, the OS is basically unusable.

How do I get readable fonts in Windows 8?

Hardware: ASUS P8Z77-V PRO, Intel Core i7 3770K, ASUS Radeon HD7770 graphics, Samsung Syncmaster 2443BW 24 inch monitor.

 

I managed to resolve this by changing the display size of my desktop to 100%, outlook 2013 now looks normal. I class this as a proper resolution to the problem.

To change the font size do teh following:

1. Right click desktop and select 'Personalize'
2. The Personalization widow appears now click 'Display' in the bottom left corner
3. You will now be greeted with a page allowing you to change the size of all items, this defaults to 125% which makes fonts in Office in particular look horrible. Drop this down to 100% (I also checked 'Let me choose one scaling level for all my displays')
4. Apply - Notice how Office now looks fine. You also gain a lot more screen real estate as fonts are smaller you get more copy on the page at one time, which is also an added bonus when using 26" screens!

You could potentially just adjust the scaling in outlook directly (bottom right corner slider) - however I have not tested this.

I, many others have tried your scaling tricks many times and it has made absolutely no difference whatsoever.

Fonts are still so blurry it hurts my eyes.  IE and Office 2013 remain unusable even on Windows 10.

I am sick of this tired old fake "solution" that has been promoted incessantly on various threads by Microsoft shills.