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View Full Version : Can a Mac render HTML like a PC?



gomatt
Mar 30, 2006, 12:05 PM
Hello everyone, I want to switch to mac this summer with a new MBP and bla bla, I could go on and on.

I was using my friends 10.4 17" powerbook 1ghz the other day, and with messing with the settings in safari and firefox, I could not get the HTML to look as good as on a PC. When I use firefox on a pc and IE, every site is exactly how the HTML is. Normal font, no clear type stuff like on a mac.

Is there something I am missing, or is it just different?


gekko513
Mar 30, 2006, 12:13 PM
When I use firefox on a pc and IE, every site is exactly how the HTML is.
What are you talking about?

Does every site look like this?
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html dir="ltr" lang="en">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" />
<meta name="generator" content="vBulletin 3.5.4" />


<meta name="keywords" content="mac rumors,mac,macintosh,vbulletin,forum,bbs,discussion,jelsoft,bulletin board, apple, jobs, steve, newton, powerbook, ibook, powermac, g5, g6, g7, powerpc, ppc" />
<meta name="description" content="Mac News and Rumors Discussion Forums" />



<!-- CSS Stylesheet -->
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="clientscript/vbulletin_css/style-2bcececf-00016.css" id="vbulletin_css" />

<!-- / CSS Stylesheet -->

<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
var SESSIONURL = "";
var IMGDIR_MISC = "images/misc";
var vb_disable_ajax = parseInt("0", 10);
// -->
</script>
...
gomatt
Mar 30, 2006, 12:15 PM
No, not the code. Sorry.

I mean look at macrumors on a PC with firefox or IE, then look at it on a Mac. The fonts are different, smoothed out on a mac, and buttons are different and just has a flat smoother look on a mac. Not as sharp as a pc.
miniConvert
Mar 30, 2006, 12:19 PM
All fonts are anti-aliased on OS X. IE7 Beta 2 also does this, so now's a good time to start getting used to it :)
BakedBeans
Mar 30, 2006, 12:20 PM
No, not the code. Sorry.

I mean look at macrumors on a PC with firefox or IE, then look at it on a Mac. The fonts are different, smoothed out on a mac, and buttons are different and just has a flat smoother look on a mac. Not as sharp as a pc.

This varies with a few things but i believe it is mainly Macs advanced ant-aliasing. What your seeing on windows isnt sharp - its jagged. Macs are better in this sense as it reduces eye and brain fatigue.

or so i heard
gekko513
Mar 30, 2006, 12:21 PM
No, not the code. Sorry.

I mean look at macrumors on a PC with firefox or IE, then look at it on a Mac. The fonts are different, smoothed out on a mac, and buttons are different and just has a flat smoother look on a mac. Not as sharp as a pc.
They're different. The buttons are taken from the OS or are browser specific and the font rendering engine is usually OS specific.

But I might as well ask: When I use firefox or Safari on a Mac, every site is exactly how the HTML is. Normal font, no jagged, pixelated stuff like on a PC. The buttons are sharp and crude on a PC, not as smooth as on a Mac.
gomatt
Mar 30, 2006, 12:24 PM
Thanks
plinden
Mar 30, 2006, 12:42 PM
No, not the code. Sorry.

I mean look at macrumors on a PC with firefox or IE, then look at it on a Mac. The fonts are different, smoothed out on a mac, and buttons are different and just has a flat smoother look on a mac. Not as sharp as a pc.
If you turn on ClearType fonts on Windows (download the ClearType tuning tool from the MS website to calibrate it since the default settings are awful) you get smoother text, more like a Mac.

I've seen others have complain about Windows ClearType fonts, but it is better than the default, especially on LCDs, but it really needs to be calibrated.
Heb1228
Mar 30, 2006, 12:50 PM
Why the heck would anyone complain about font smoothing? This isn't the 1990's. I'm glad fonts on my screen look more like they would printed out on a sheet of paper than like a typical old-school 'computer font'.

Welcome to a modern operating system.

BTW, you can turn off/adjust font smoothing in system preferences. So if you prefer looking at an ugly screen, you may be able to 'fix' it there.
gekko513
Mar 30, 2006, 01:05 PM
Why the heck would anyone complain about font smoothing? This isn't the 1990's. I'm glad fonts on my screen look more like they would printed out on a sheet of paper than like a typical old-school 'computer font'.

Welcome to a modern operating system.

BTW, you can turn off/adjust font smoothing in system preferences. So if you prefer looking at an ugly screen, you may be able to 'fix' it there.
True, I can make Safari render macrumors like this *shudder*:
chaos86
Mar 30, 2006, 01:50 PM
True, I can make Safari render macrumors like this *shudder*:

ughh i forgot how ugly windows makes everything.
dpaanlka
Mar 30, 2006, 02:15 PM
What exactly is the complaint here I'm not sure I understand.
Sharewaredemon
Mar 30, 2006, 02:54 PM
ughh i forgot how ugly windows makes everything.

And I'm lucky enough not to know!


That's right, we've got a lifer here....
Dane D.
Mar 31, 2006, 11:07 AM
I could not get the HTML to look as good as on a PC. When I use firefox on a pc and IE, every site is exactly how the HTML is.

What? Go into the control panels on the PC and turn on font smoothing. PCs redender type like posted screenshot. Macs are so much better in on-screen fonts than PCs. Before I turned that feature on I couldn't even look at a PC screen, it hurt my eyes. Also IMO, browsing the web on a Mac is the only way to go. The browsers look nicer. As for IE 7 who cares, it is a MS product, nuf said.