Re: Fonts for Online documents

Subject: Re: Fonts for Online documents
From: Mike Bygrave <bygravem -at- INTUITIVE -dot- CO -dot- UK>
Date: Tue, 18 Jun 1996 13:37:39 +-100

>First, do you not agree that Microsoft is the largest, and most
successful
>software manufacturer in the world?
-yes

>Next, would you not agree that Microsoft would not release a major
software
>interface, such as Windows without a great deal of study and testing?
-no, the design was based more upon their attempts to play catch-up with
Apple (in which they failed).

>Finally, based on Microsoft's studies and testing would you not agree
that if
>we follow Microsoft's standards for GUI environments and documentation,
such as
>Windows Help, we will be in synergy with the GUI requirements and user
needs?
-it wasn't necessarily 'Microsoft's studies and testing...". Apple were
the 'main' company to develop the GUI environment (well before Microsoft),
and I think you'll find that their system evolved rather than being
actively designed. I very much doubt that, when selecting their system
font, Apple spent a fortune on readability studies - I think they picked
the one which they liked at the time, or the one which one of them happened
to be using.

In summary: IMHO the Microsoft example is of little use in this area - on
what authority do Microsoft decide upon readability? As somebody
mentioned, there have been a huge number of studies into this area, and the
result has been that no definite conclusion can be drawn. In the main I
think that the alternating popularity of serif and sans serif fonts comes
from trend and fashion, i.e. it's trendy to use a serif font so everyone
does so, which means that it then becomes trendy to use a sans serif font.

As for copying the Microsoft style for everything associated with PCs, what
happened to individuality? Who (apart from Bill) could possibly want
everything to look like Microsoft - I can think of few things more
depressing! Microsoft's stranglehold on this industry is tight enough,
without us all rushing up to help them tighten it.

There, I feel much less stressed now!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Mike Bygrave (bygravem -at- intuitive -dot- co -dot- uk)
"1966 was a great year for English football - Cantona was born."
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

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