Mozzilla and fonts

[Tea]

Not exactly a tech support question, but it seems to fit better here than in the "Computers" forum.

I just installed the latest Mozilla build (0.9.8 ) for OS/2. (I'm actualy running ECS here, the new OS/2, but no matter.) And, as I so often seem to find, the fonts are weird. (I had exactly the same sort of problems with my Linux box only a lot worse, and with Netscape-family browsers, font weirdness is quite common under Windows too.)

The immediate issue is size. With the default install, the on-screen fonts are ridiculously small on my 19 inch Hitachi (Matrox G450, 1280 by 1024 resolution). So, I went thtrough the usual routine: Edit/Preferences/Fonts and changed the default font sizes. As usual with this POS control in Netscape, it does exactly nothing. Except, of course, make the forms fonts too big. Everything else stays the same.

So, seeing as there is a nice new feature there now to let you explicitly set the display resolution, I tried that. 96DPI fonts, 120DPI fonts, it made no difference at all. Having nothing better to try, I tried "other". The "other" button gives you an on-screen line and asks you to measure it. I did that, and it chewed on my 8cm measurement and decided that 95DPI was appropriate - i.e., still everything the same.

So, seeing as telling it the truth is pointless, I tried lying.

If I tell it the 8cm line is 3.5cm long, I get 152DPI and (hey presto!) a noticable improvement.

You know, there are times when I just have to admit it: if there is one thing Microsoft are good at, it is fonts. OS/2 fonts can be only just bearable, Linux fonts are absolutely hopeless, but Windows fonts just work right first time, every time.

Well ... Netscape can bugger them up, but Netscape has special talents in that regard.

Roll on the OS/2 port of Opera!

 

[Mercutio]

Since you're undoubtledly the only person here with Mozilla + ECS, I don't know how much help you're going to get but...

How high did you wind up setting the font size in Moz? Try something outrageious, like 32-points or so. See if that does anything.


Also try, under the View menu, the "Text Zoom" feature. You can get the same thing By typing CTRL++ (two plusses - who decided on that shortcut?)

 

[Tea]

Obviously, someone who programs in C a lot.

 

[Tea]

Sorry about that.

Sometimes it's hard having a split personality. I thought this was Tannin's thread. Forgot that it was me that started it, not him. (If we can't remember which one we are, what hope have you guys got?)

Back to the topic at hand.

I'll try those two things when I get back to the office machine. Thanks Mercutio. I did wind one of the settings way, way up. was it font size? Think so. I got nice, Flagreen-sized fonts (ones he could read without his glasses I mean), that wrote all over the top of each other in order to fit on the page. Looking forward to trying that text zoom thingie though. I'll let you know my results.

 

[Mercutio]

I take back my complaint about that shortcut after actually using the command. CTRL (and) + zooms in and CTRL (and) - zooms out. I was throw by the shortcut nomenclature - using + ito join the two keys - for a moment.

CTRL++ makes sense. Photoshop uses the same key sequence to zoom images.

 

[Tea]

Finally got around to trying out your tip, Mercutio. The text zoom function is exactly what I needed, works pretty-much perfectly. Thankyou.

Now I only have a short list of minor things that bug me.

• When you open a new window it opens in the foreground at full-screen, Netscape style. Internet Explorer opens it in a window which just requires a single click outside the borders to consign it to the background while it loads, ready to be flicked to and zoomed up when I'm ready to read it. Opera is the best of all, with its wonderful "open in background" right click function.
  
• The color scheme looks washed-out and boring. I must experiment with skins one day.
  
• Even on the XP 1700 with 512MB and X15 it takes a noticable time to load. I don't like that.
  
• Sometimes three out of four windows hog the foreground and won't let me put anything else there until I minimise them, alt-escape, or even (in extreme cases) close them. Communicator/2 used to do this too, though not as badly. It may be a Matrox problem. I downloaded new OS/2 G450 drivers the other day, I'll see if that cures it.