Last October, the Microsoft Typography group released a ClearType Tuner PowerToy. Don’t assume that this is just for notebooks. Tweaking these settings in Windows XP really can make your screen more readable. There’s a downloadable version, or you can use the online ClearType Tuner (because it uses an ActiveX control, the online version works only in Internet Explorer).
To learn more about ClearType, visit this page, which has a readable FAQ and lots of useful technical details.
(Thanks to Microsoft’s Michael Kaplan for pointing this out. If you’re a font geek, you should be reading his blog!)
I tried the ClearType Tuner PowerToy last fall and found ClearTweak’s interactive dialog preferable to the PowerToy wizard.
http://www.ioisland.com/cleartweak/
I have read that ClearType is primarily intended to improve LCD monitors, but I have also had very good results with ClearType on my CRT monitor at home as well as my LCD monitor at work. Mainly I like the extra clarity (no pun intended) that it gives to online text.
Ken
Although ClearType is primarily for LCD monitors, I also use it on my CRT monitor at home as well as my LCD monitor at work. Although the improved clarity (no pun intended) is more pronounced on the LCD monitor, it is also noticable on the CRT monitor.
Ken
Oops…not sure how that happened, except that I thought the first comment didn’t go through. Sorry about that.