9th August 2002
Here's a little font tip for everyone. Try installing a program from AnalogX.com, and in the middle of the installation, check out your Temp directory. You will notice some pretty exclusive TrueType fonts in there that you can copy to your fonts directory for later use. Not enough tip for you? (That's all right, I've got more!) With the introduction of ClearType in Windows XP, I've had a lot of people ask me what the difference is between ClearType and anti-aliasing. Sure, both techniques are eye-pleasing, but both go about it in different ways. Anti-aliasing achieves its smooth look by "padding" the outside pixels with shades of gray, giving the font or image a less jagged feel. ClearType actually approaches this from a different angle; instead of padding the font in gray pixels, it just increases the detail from a pixel to a fraction of a pixel, making it much easier to read over long durations. Now all Microsoft has to do is figure out a way to stop my neck from cramping, and then I will never have to leave the computer!