Font sizes on Windows and Linux

[Frank Steinmetzger]

Hello Group

On my website I used to have Tahoma 8pt defined in my CSS styles. That gives
me the "normal" font Windows uses everywhere in its dialogues.
However, on Linux things seem to be different. If I want a font equal in
size to Windows' Tahoma 8pt, I need to set 11 as font size. This has the
result that text on my website is too small for Linux systems at the
moment.

Could you tell me what I need to do in order to get the same font size on
both systems?

TIA
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[Osmo Saarikumpu]

Frank Steinmetzger wrote:

Could you tell me what I need to do in order to get the same font size on
both systems?

Sure. Do not set any font size at all. And the world would be a better
place...

Osmo

[Jim Moe]

Frank Steinmetzger wrote:

>
Could you tell me what I need to do in order to get the same font size on
both systems?

Use ems or % to set the font sizes, not px or pt.
Using pt puts you at the mercy of the browser's interpretation of what a
point is. Without some sort of external physical length reference all a
browser can do is guess at the size. Obviously Windows and Linux guess
differently.
Using px or pt also had the disadvantage that an IE user cannot adjust
the font size to their preference.

--
jmm (hyphen) list (at) sohnen-moe (dot) com
(Remove .AXSPAMGN for email)

[Frank Steinmetzger]

Osmo Saarikumpu schrob:

>Could you tell me what I need to do in order to get the same font size on
both systems?

Sure. Do not set any font size at all. And the world would be a better
place...

Hm... quite an idea.
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[Jukka K. Korpela]

Scripsit Frank Steinmetzger:

Hello Group

Oh, Group just left, sorry. He never felt at home in this mixed gang.

On my website I used to have Tahoma 8pt defined in my CSS styles.

And you were cured from that? Fine.

It's off-topic for this group, though.

That gives me the "normal" font Windows uses everywhere in its
dialogues.

You're trolling, right? Everyone knows that's not true, and most people in
this gang know that it would be completely irrelevant anyway.

However, on Linux things seem to be different.

Yeah, and what about all the 171 other operating systems?

If I want a font equal
in size to Windows' Tahoma 8pt, I need to set 11 as font size.

I must admire your capability of pretending to be extremely clueless.

Could you tell me what I need to do in order to get the same font
size on both systems?

That's simple. Just acquire total dominance over the Earth and have anyone
killed who dares to deviate from your font size. Simply enforce the same
system and the same settings for everyone and let it be called under two
different names.

--
Jukka K. Korpela ("Yucca")
http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/

[Osmo Saarikumpu]

Jukka K. Korpela wrote:

That's simple. Just acquire total dominance over the Earth and have
anyone killed who dares to deviate from your font size. Simply enforce
the same system and the same settings for everyone and let it be called
under two different names.

LOL. That would amount to exactly my advice... but then again, maybe
not. Usually Mr. Korpela (as them martians call him) excels in a subtle
manner :)

Osmo

[David E. Ross]

Frank Steinmetzger wrote:

Hello Group

On my website I used to have Tahoma 8pt defined in my CSS styles. That gives
me the "normal" font Windows uses everywhere in its dialogues.
However, on Linux things seem to be different. If I want a font equal in
size to Windows' Tahoma 8pt, I need to set 11 as font size. This has the
result that text on my website is too small for Linux systems at the
moment.

Could you tell me what I need to do in order to get the same font size on
both systems?

TIA

Don't force any font size! Some of us (my wife, for example) want all
fonts larger than usual because their eyes are getting old. Having
experimented with various sizes, I set my browser's default to 13pt
(Georgia, a serif font) as being the most readable.

As others indicated, different browsers, different operating systems,
and different platforms show point sizes differently. That's why it is
better to use relative sizing (em or %) instead of absolute sizing (pt).
Further, sizing should only be specified for text that is NOT part of
the content body. That is, larger sizes may be specified for titles and
section headers while smaller sizes may be specified for footnotes and
copyright notices. But the main body of content should be at the size
the user finds most readable and has thus set as his or her default.

Don't force any font face! According to
<http://www.codestyle.o rg/css/font-family/sampler-CombinedResults .shtml>,
more than 6% of Windows users do not have Tahoma installed. Almost 28%
of Mac users do not have Tahoma. Tahoma does not even appear in that
site's UNIX survey (which also covers Linux); I infer that fewer than 9%
of users of UNIX-type systems have Tahoma.

If you really like Tahoma (I prefer Verdana for sans-serif), use
something in your CSS such as
Body {font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif}
This will cause Tahoma to be used if it is available. Otherwise, the
user's specified default sans-serif font will be used. Without the
generic "sans-serif" in the CSS, a user without Tahoma will see your
text in his or her general default, which might be a serif, cursive, or
fantasy font.

--
David E. Ross
<http://www.rossde.com/>

Natural foods can be harmful: Look at all the
people who die of natural causes.

[Frank Steinmetzger]

David E. Ross schrob:

Don't force any font face! According to
[...]
If you really like Tahoma (I prefer Verdana for sans-serif), use
something in your CSS such as
Body {font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif}

Actually, I do:
* {font-family:tahoma,a rial,sans-serif}
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[Frank Steinmetzger]

David E. Ross schrob:

Don't force any font face! According to
<http://www.codestyle.o rg/css/font-family/sampler-CombinedResults .shtml>

Interesting that there is no mentioning of any of the Bitstream Vera fonts.

[...]
If you really like Tahoma (I prefer Verdana for sans-serif), use
something in your CSS such as
Body {font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif}

Actually, I do:
* {font-family:tahoma,a rial,sans-serif}
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[Frank Steinmetzger]

Jukka K. Korpela schrob:

>On my website I used to have Tahoma 8pt defined in my CSS styles.

And you were cured from that? Fine.

I'm getting a hang of it, yes. Because now that Vista dooms over everybody's
head, I'm almost cured from MS (if it wasn't for some special apps that I
keep XP for).

It's off-topic for this group, though.

It was my closest guess because I tried to find a solution for my
CSS-problem. *ooops* I didn't look for css groups, sorry.

>That gives me the "normal" font Windows uses everywhere in its
dialogues.

You're trolling, right? Everyone knows that's not true

*ehem* I intentionally put "normal" into those: ""

>If I want a font equal
in size to Windows' Tahoma 8pt, I need to set 11 as font size.

I must admire your capability of pretending to be extremely clueless.

-_- I guess my posting was a quick shot because right now I have no time to
do extensive searches. Sorry for that, I'm starting to feel like those poor
noobs that need their monthly magazine of the latest Windows tuning tricks.

Just acquire total dominance over the Earth and have anyone
killed who dares to deviate from your font size. Simply enforce the same
system and the same settings for everyone and let it be called under two
different names.

Yeaaahh, LCARS rules.

If I was from the US I think I could get that patented.

Again, I'm really ashamed for the quality of my question. It was no try to
troll, but maybe I've made someone laugh. Usually I'm good at this :)
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