Panther: Narrower Fonts?

[DHagan4755]

I have noticed that on certain applications, at certain times, the font displayed seems narrower than it should be. I think we all know how Arial and Helvetica and Lucida Grande look. But on my system, they seem like they are narrower; squished a little bit. Anyone else experiencing this?

[Hobbes]

Originally posted by DHagan4755
I have noticed that on certain applications, at certain times, the font displayed seems narrower than it should be. I think we all know how Arial and Helvetica and Lucida Grande look. But on my system, they seem like they are narrower; squished a little bit. Anyone else experiencing this?

Yes. I've noticed in the Finder and Safari. I think it's intentional, but I can't say I particularly like it.

It looks too squeezed in.

[dfiler]

Is this from panther's "micro pixel positioning" of glyphs? I've been trying to decide if fonts in 10.3 are any different or improved.

[kim kap sol]

Originally posted by Hobbes
Yes. I've noticed in the Finder and Safari. I think it's intentional, but I can't say I particularly like it.

It looks too squeezed in.

I had the same feeling when I was playing with late builds of Panther. But you get used to it really quickly. In fact, I've forgotten that the font had changed.

[Programmer]

Can't say that I've noticed. Personally I think the text looks terrific although I'm at a loss to say if it actually changed... :)

[BuonRotto]

IMO there might be slightly tighter kerning but I can't tell if the characters themselves are narrower. Here's a comparison of Panther's menubar vs. Jaguar's menubar (http://homepage.mac.com/jdabrowski/.Pictures/Screenshots/PanthervsJaguar.jpg) at least.
That's Panther on top, Jag on the bottom. Panther seems to have less of a drop shadow and therefore looks a bit less bold, but the kerning and characters in that shot anyway look the same. The Jag menubar is from a previous jpeg so it's poorer quality; sorry for that. I hope it doesn't interfere with the comparison too much.

I tend to think narrower kerning within limits improves legibility of words (as opposed to letters) in body text anyway.

[dviant]

yeah i think the fonts for files and folders were condensed slightly. Or perhaps just kerned tighter. Seems odd at first but its probably a good thing, as names will take up less space.