Crossplatform HTML text display issue

[chunk1978]

hi there...

i've been building an internet form recently, and i've realized there seems to be a slight difference between the way HTML text is processed between my Mac (Mac OS X v10.4.8) and my PC (Windows Vista)... it's not really a life or death situation, but i'd really like if it could look as good on PCs as it does on Macs... or to at least understand why the PC seems to not display text as smoothly as the Mac does.

the below image shows a sample of my internet form. the top section is a screenshot taken while using Safari 2.0 (Mac), and the below section is a screenshot taken while using Internet Explorer 7.0 (PC).

any ideas?

[AricC]

The second looks like default IE behavior you can use some styles, but that is about all.

[chunk1978]

The second looks like default IE behavior you can use some styles, but that is about all.

hi AricC... thanks for the reply... just so that i'm clear, eventhough i have styles written in my code:

<style type="text/css">
<!--
body,td,th {
    font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
    font-size: 12px;
    color: #999999;
}
.style6 {color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 23px; font-style: italic; }
.style8 {color: #6D6FB3; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 23px; font-style: italic; }
.style12 {color: #666666}
.style13 {color: #999999}
.style14 {font-size: 10px}
.style18 {font-size: 14px}
.style21 {font-size: 12px}
.style24 {font-size: 12px; color: #6D6FB3; }
.style26 {font-size: 12px; color: #6D6FB3; font-style: italic; }
.style28 {font-size: 14px; color: #6D6FB3; font-style: italic; }
.style29 {font-size: 10px; color: #6D6FB3; font-style: italic; }
.style30 {color: #999999; font-size: 10px; }
#Layer1 {
    position:absolute;
    width:516px;
    height:115px;
    z-index:1;
    left: 327px;
    top: 613px;
}
.style43 {color: #4B4B4B}
.style45 {color: #333333}
 
-->
</style>
 

... IE7 will by default display the text a little different because that's just the way it displays the styles? so it's not possible to make it look like Safari 2.0?

[AricC]

Right the square box'ness is just how IE shows combo boxes. Aside from borders and other CSS properties you won't get it to look like Safari each browser renders them differently I believe.

Aric

[chunk1978]

Right the square box'ness is just how IE shows combo boxes. Aside from borders and other CSS properties you won't get it to look like Safari each browser renders them differently I believe.

Aric

oh! hah... yes i knew this... but i was referring explicitly to the way the text looks :-)... i feel the IE7 text looks different than the Safari 2.0 text, eventhough they both use the same font codes and styles...

i totally understand why you may have missed my question, because the text difference is extremely subtle... but if you look closely, it's quite different too... and i'd just like to know why...

[drhowarddrfine]

Different platforms have different font styles and graphics. Here is a useful list to compare fonts.

[chunk1978]

Different platforms have different font styles and graphics. Here is a useful list to compare fonts.

thanks for the info drhowarddrfine! i really appreciate it...

[AricC]

oh! hah... yes i knew this... but i was referring explicitly to the way the text looks :-)... i feel the IE7 text looks different than the Safari 2.0 text, eventhough they both use the same font codes and styles...

i totally understand why you may have missed my question, because the text difference is extremely subtle... but if you look closely, it's quite different too... and i'd just like to know why...

I was way off! I don't think MAC's have true type fonts not sure I don't have a MAC... yet.

[chunk1978]

I was way off! I don't think MAC's have true type fonts not sure I don't have a MAC... yet.

mac's indeed have true type fonts :-)