Poor font rendering in Windows 8 (blurry text)

Anonymous
2013-02-24T00:17:00+00:00

Apparently there is a huge problem with **** font rendering in Windows 8. Text appears very blurry. Programs affected by the new rendering are: Internet Explorer 10, the modern interface (start screen), Office 2013 and other 3rd party applications that rely on this rendering technology. There is no way to fix this problem, unless Microsoft recognizes it.

I 've gathered links bellow that refer to the same problem to highlight its importance and display the number of users that are affected:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-performance/windows-8-blurryfuzzy-text-and-icons-on-menu-not/ef8945ff-9920-47b2-b4ec-db1c5fbab7de

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/forum/ie10-windows_8/windows-8-fonts-in-metro-ui-and-ie-10-blurry/3c29c415-54fd-44c8-b290-1c01dd05beaf

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/forum/ie10-windows_8/font-are-blurry-in-internet-explorer-10-windows-8/95fba606-5f45-43fa-bd96-413f6d9d9ad6

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/forum/ie10-windows_8/after-upgrading-to-windows-8-pro-my-fonts-in/210e46c9-4d16-4de7-8b59-2a1b0a7c738a

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/forum/ie10-windows_8/internet-explorer-10-windows-8-font-rendering-blur/f3b33400-bb95-450c-9587-68adbf298a2f

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_cp-winapps/blurry-text-windows-8/576183c0-e5e2-4916-8283-0a193d633018

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-hardware/blurry-text-problem/d07ac513-de07-49d9-8718-7fbb6d07b634

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/forum/ie10-windows_8/windows-8-browsers-font-rendering-issue-blocky/86139808-9c3f-48d9-bfa8-61afebd5761c

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/forum/ie10_cp-windows_cp/windows-8-preview-release-blurry-font-rendering/668f454e-012f-498f-a086-b550a96d47e1

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-performance/horrible-windows-8-font-rendering/cc263629-f4c8-4653-af36-435f4e6b7d38

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_other-desktop/will-windows-8-have-better-fonts-or-at-least/ad35ce7b-45a9-44b4-83d9-aae34df8dd97

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-performance/fonts-are-suddenly-ugly-why/ba024dcc-c143-4ede-8f04-27930527c5be

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/forum/ie10_cp-windows_cp/installation-of-windows-8-cp-causes-blurred-fonts/75352b20-cb08-4312-b7f3-6c38bb5f5f0a

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-desktop/monitor-fonts-windows-8-fuzzy-and-no-longer-crisp/052e7a57-79a7-49c5-93dc-bffb01969cbd

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/forum/ie9-windows_vista/some-fonts-are-fuzzy-and-thicker-in-ie9-in/47f1846f-7817-464b-8121-d1ca02dbb71d

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-performance/blurry-text-in-windows-8/ed053d17-b525-4e09-bdbc-de91114d975c

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-performance/windows-8-has-made-my-text-blurry/7e9977e0-335f-4e8b-b321-eb2d156f36c1

Microsoft MSDN/TECHNET

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winappsuidesign/thread/4ddc57e1-de74-4044-940e-76e35a3e76b9

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-ZA/w8itprogeneral/thread/034ef255-40d5-41d5-9c58-841868326832

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/br/w8itprogeneral/thread/831ee84b-95a1-437a-b051-b7d51e13ba0f

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w8itprogeneral/thread/d9c1ce96-58aa-401f-a5f4-1c62660077ca

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/W8ITProPreRel/thread/409d4e85-1124-4e1c-9cc0-3b2acfd519dd

External forums:

http://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1120890-internet-explorer-10-fonts-fuzzy-in-windows-8/

http://www.eightforums.com/browsers-mail/5432-blurry-text-ie10-desktop.html

http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f56/blurry-website-fonts-in-ie10-675564.html

http://www.techplex.net/postst78315_Text-in-Internet-Explorer-10-and-Metro-UI-is-blurry.aspx

http://superuser.com/questions/506192/disable-cleartype-blurry-fonts-in-internet-explorer-10-on-windows-7

http://bugsort.com/computer-users/computer-unclear-type-in-internet-explorer-on-windows-8/?PHPSESSID=10368ff87086c902a678043f63e39762

and there are lots of more...

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Performance and system failures

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-08-07T02:41:08+00:00

    I found I had this blurry text issue on a website and then I worked out that I had done a Text Zoom in IE11 and that was causing the issue, NOT the fact the desktop was set to 125% scaling.

    Press CTRL-0 (or Gear/Zoom/100%) to make sure this isn't part of the issues you are having.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-08-06T10:07:34+00:00

    The last time I checked Ubuntu (13.10), while it was possible to choose the type of anti-aliasing one wanted for the desktop, it was NOT possible to change it in the browsers (I tried Firefox and Chrome) with the anti-aliasing being turned on by default and no simple way to turn it off which is worst than in Windows. In Ubuntu, if it hasn't changed, the settings in the browsers don't follow the general settings of the OS so that is not a solution in my case. 

    Besides, on my system, the choice between Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 in desktop mode is a moot point as they work in the same way with the ability to turn off Clear Type in both versions. I don't use MS Office and IE anymore so I don't about them but the other desktop programs are still fine.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-08-06T09:41:30+00:00

    Always hated MacOS for its ultra tiny fonts and the inability to offer a global, higher DPI option similar to Windows. Let's hope MS doesn't mess this up even further in Windows 9. I'd say go with Ubuntu, no need to go backwards.

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-08-06T08:45:39+00:00

    My boss solved his problem in a way that I'm seeing many others solve it too: he installed Ubuntu! Really!

    @Home I'm beta-testing OS X 10.10 - it's even BETTER than what it already was at handling large text and high-dpi monitors - odd to see MSFT going the OPPOSITE way... I have yet to make up my mind on my upgrade path: shall I follow with Ubuntu or Windows 7? Decisions, decisions...

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  5. Anonymous
    2014-07-18T10:26:32+00:00

    I can't believe this problem still persists in Windows 8.1 as of TODAY! I've been trying hard to use Windows 8.1, seeing that some of the annoyances of 8.0 have been addressed, but on my new laptop, with a 1920x1080 resolution on a 15.6" display, text is just too small at 100% and too blurry at other resolutions...

    I use a MacBook at home with no problems. As for this laptop, I have to use Windows, but I can choose and will most likely be upgrading it to Windows 7, the last known workable operating system. I'll be on vacation shortly and will take a day or two to format and install a decent version of Windows, seeing that my company has Software Assurance and I can do that.

    It's probably just the normal MSFT cicle: good windows/bad windows (98/Millenium, XP/Vista, 7/8.x), so I'll wait for Windows 9 as it will probably be a useable OS again - this is something more important to address than "tabletness" if you really want people to adopt your new OS... Alternatively, keep it broken - that will drive more people to find solutions elsewhere: between onedrive for office apps, linux and remote desktop to some servers, I might be able to get away from having Windows on my laptop altogether, and now that I think of it, I may be giving it a go on my vacation period and see how it goes...

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