Posts Tagged windows
Font smoothing in Windows (and why Mac users don’t like it)
Yesterday, a friend of mine posted a twit remarking that font smoothing in Windows 7 was not done properly and how Microsoft still hadn’t gotten it right. I hadn’t noticed any obvious issues of this nature in my usage and testing on Windows 7, so I was instantly curious to know why he thought as he did and if Microsoft, after all these years, still hadn’t mastered something as simple as font smoothing. So I set out to do the research.
Joel on Software has a great article thoroughly explaining the reasons behind the differences, but for those who want the digest version, I’ll give it to you here.
Apple and Microsoft use the same process for rendering fonts, a technology called “sub-pixel rendering.” The reason the two operating systems render text differently (specifically in web pages) is due to the algorithm behind the font rendering engine. Each character within a font is set to take up a certain amount of space measured in pixels–thus an “A” takes up more horizontal space than, say, an “I.” In addition to that, each typeface has it’s own style of letterform–that is each letter is designed to look a specific way and may, in some cases, slightly exceed the given letter-space when font smoothing is applied.
Apple, the company with a philosophy that the artistic and stylistic aspects of just about anything trumps everything else, wrote their font smoothing algorithm to allow type to exceed it’s allocated space, giving fonts more character at smaller sizes. This makes for a smoother looking font, but also is sometimes blurry and can be hard on the eyes. Microsoft on the other hand took a more practical approach and decided that each character must fit exactly within the available space and therefore “chisels” the characters to fit within that space. This creates a less-smoothed font, but makes things far easier to read on-screen. In fact, you can see this difference directly on a Windows machine by putting a Safari for Windows window and an Internet Explorer or Firefox window side-by-side. You’ll see what I mean.
So the question is now: Which company is correct?
The short answer is both. Apple’s OS will provide a more unified look between computer screen and printed output. This is yet another reason (whether they realize it or not) why designers often prefer OS X over Windows. Microsoft gives users a more readable on-screen experience at the expense of some character style (although at large font sizes, these differences become less noticeable.
All-in-all it’s pretty much just a matter of personal preference. Neither way is necessarily wrong–it’s all about what you like.
I’m a PC (and a human being)
Microsoft is throwing it right back at Apple, who has attempted to stereotype the Personal Computer (PC) as a bloated, disfunctional, and not-very-hip machine. I won’t delve into the many arguments about how Macs are really just PCs with an Apple logo and an alternative OS, or how Linux (which Apple ignores in it’s commercials) runs on many PCs.
So to counter this so-called “stereotype,” Microsoft has released the “I’m a PC” ad campaign. See for yourself why that stereotype is so wrong…
Virtual Memory: What is it?
Posted by Matt in Computers, Operating Systems on July 11th, 2008
It’s happened to all of us. You’re sitting at your computer happily surfing the web, checking email, or downloading the latest single on iTunes when suddenly an alert pops up on the screen: “Your system is low on virtual memory. Windows is increasing the size of your virtual memory paging file.” The first thoughts that run through your mind might be akin to confusion or concern that something is horribly wrong with your PC. Don’t worry though, this is somewhat normal. However, don’t stop reading, because it could indicate that a setting in Windows is configured incorrectly, and while this won’t bring your computer to a screeching halt, it could drastically affect the machine’s performance. Read on–I’m going to tell you exactly what virtual memory is and then how to check to make sure that Windows isn’t hiding untapped performance!
What in the world is Virtual Memory?
So, what exactly is this stuff? I’ll start off by telling you this: it really isn’t ‘memory’ at all. Nearly everyone has heard of RAM and how you can’t really ever have too much in your computer, and to a certain extent this is absolutely true. RAM is the real ‘memory’ of the computer. In fact, without RAM the computer couldn’t run a single application! An operating system such as Windows must load and keep a part of itself in RAM while the computer is running, but on top of that each program you launch must be stored and run in RAM while it’s being used. The icons in your system tray next to the clock are also partially running in RAM. Unfortunately, this memory is quite limited when it comes to storage capacity. Most machines include 1GB standard, although many machines are shipping with 2GB or more of RAM.
Here’s our dilemma: as multiple applications and windows are opened, the computer’s main RAM begins to fill and not every part of every running application can fit in the limited space. So, the computer has to have another location to send the ‘overflow’ of data that doesn’t make it into RAM; therefore, it reserves a certain amount of space on the hard-drive (usually 1-2GB) to hold data until other information is cleared out of memory to make space for new stuff. It’s a bit like a wedding wherein more individuals have been invited than will fit into the church. Once the venue has reached capacity, the ushers will then escort others to a room where they may watch on closed-circuit TV. They’re still able to participate in the event, but they aren’t directly involved in the main service. Of course, this example breaks down, but you get the idea. In a nutshell, Virtual Memory looks and acts just like real memory to most applications…except for the fact that it’s a whole lot slower. Other names for this reserved disk space include ’swap file’ and ‘paging file.’
Do I have enough?
Even though we don’t necessarily like using virtual memory, it’s a fact of life. Ensuring that your computer has set aside enough space for virtual memory is crucial to keep things running smoothly. If you’re using Apple’s OS X Leopard or Windows Vista, you probably don’t need to adjust anything. These modern operating systems come preconfigured to manage their own swap space and generally do a pretty good job of it. If you’re using Windows XP on the other hand, things may be a different story. Follow these steps to check the virtual memory settings on your XP Home or Pro equipped computer.
Step 1:
Open your Start Menu, right-click on My Computer, and select Properties.
Step 2:
Select the Advanced tab, then click Settings in the Performance section of that window.
Step 3:
Click this window’s Advanced tab, then the Change button under the virtual memory section. Now set your virtual memory to “System managed size” and click Set. If you know what you’re doing, you may want to choose a Custom size, but this is probably not necessary.
Complete the process by clicking ‘OK’ until all the windows are closed, then restart your computer.
If anything was set differently or possibly amiss, you may notice a performance increase at the expense of a little disk space. Either way, your virtual memory should now be optimized for maximum effectiveness.
Happy computing!