(Solved) Font Rendering in Browser

I do a lot of reading on my computer, even though I hate reading on computer screens. However, I can handle it okay if fonts are rendered simply without ClearType or its equivalents enabled. The difference is very clear in the below picture: I prefer Sample One; Sample Two gives me a headache. My eyes get sore trying to focus on that blurry mess and before long I find myself popping pills to keep the migraine away.I have Windows XP and have turned off ClearType system wide and in all the Office programs, which has worked well.However, it seems some webpages are forcing Sample Two like rendering. For example, this page:... renders blurry in Firefox and Chrome. I tried the suggestions here, but they didn't help: (which, coincidentally, also renders blurry).I'm at a loss on how to fix this problem if it is even fixable. Has anyone else solved this or does anyone have any suggestions?Thanks,
Jon SOLUTION:
ABE: I did some more digging through about:config and adjusted gfx.font_rendering.cleartype.use_for_downloadable_fonts to FALSE. Apparently FF was defaulting to ClearType on these 'downloadable' fonts, whatever those are. I can't believe how long I let this problem persist before finally figuring it out!Edited by Jon, : Added Solution

Just downloaded Safari and there is no blur in the article linked to in Message 1.I can use it for now as a work around. But the browser really sucks, so hopefully FF has an option to change the way these pages are rendered.

Yes, and it might matter for you on what your system settings are. Also, I found another setting in about:config: gfx.font_rendering.cleartype.always_use_for_content. This was already set to FALSE for me, so sites with simple text such as EvC were displayed without ClearType. The sites with special formatting, such as the Atlantic article, were the ones affected by the other preference that I mentioned.Also, I switched the above preference to TRUE, and now everything is in ClearType; you shouldn't have to restart the browser for the effects to kick in, at least I didn't have to. I suppose they could be using different techniques to produce the effect. The image I posted was produced in MS Word, the first without ClearType, the second with ClearType. MS's ClearType may not be the same as either FF or Chrome.Here's part of my samples zoomed in: The difference should be very noticeable.

It does come down to preference in some way. Question: in Sample Two, do you see the different colors that surround the letters? I posted about my trials with Linux a little while ago. It was nice, but I completely deleted it from my HDD because there was no way to turn off the font smoothing system wide like you can in XP, which meant I couldn't use it.

And I think that might explain our different preferences:

quote:

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Wikipedia on ClearType:

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In a MSDN article, Microsoft acknowledges that "[t]ext that is rendered with ClearType can also appear significantly different when viewed by individuals with varying levels of color sensitivity. Some individuals can detect slight differences in color better than others."

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When I look at Sample Two, the red and blue that surround the letters is overpowering to my eyes.It must boil down to our eyes' different sensitives to the colors.