Re: [WinMac] RE: Font Display Differences

jeff thorstad(thorstadj[at]macconnect.com)
Thu, 1 Oct 1998 10:43:33 -0500

>>So Microsoft fudges the screen and makes
>>things a little bigger than they are on paper so they "look right"
>>on the screen.
>
>'scuse me?
>
>I think you are making this up.
>
>Things on Windows screens look SMALLER, not larger. The original statement
>was
>96dpi on Windows screens (I didn't check this, but I know they look smaller),
>and 72dpi on Mac screens. I would guess that Microsoft probably did this to
>cram more onto the screen or something like that. This "look right"
>supposition just doesn't sound like Microsoft and furthermore doesn't fit
>with
>the facts of our own observation.

Hmmm, whatever. I don't think anyone is making anything up. You may be
looking at different programs, though.

Fact: When I use Excel or Word, the letters, etc. on the screen are
somewhat larger in Windows than Mac. I need to put ALL files at 75% zoom
in Windows to make the screen usable. Otherwise, I get about 20% less
data (columns or rows) on my screen compared to the Mac. This is in all
versions of Word and Excel at least dating back to 16bit versions.

I don't know how the dpi numbers would reflect this, not my area of
expertise. However, some things in Windows (desktop area) do look smaller
than a comparable feature on the Mac. I do not know what to attribute
these differences to. I believe it stems from the wide open nature of
Windows based computers. While this 'anything goes' attitude has allowed
cloning success, low prices and almost total market domination, it has
also led to many non-standard programs. Oh, well. I am surprised that
Microsoft programs do not seem to follow any standards themselves, sounds
like an internal quality control issue.

Jeff T
thorstadj@macconnect.com

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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b2 on Thu Oct 01 1998 - 09:28:52 PDT