Hi all,

I have been using windows (win31-95-98se/WinXp) for more than 10yrs. I am still a linux newbie although I have been using it for more than 10 months, and it is a little bit harder to switch to linux after all the years of windows experience. I wonder why windows systems render fonts more beautifully than linux distros?. BTW, I have tried many things to improve fonts (windows true type fonts, deuglification, font installer etc. and got some success. But windows fonts look still better.

Your help will be appreciated...

Well, depending on the distribution you choose and the packages you are using (old programs don't come linked with freetype), it could be true that some things look better in windows.
BUT for the last months, distros are shipping with freetype, which on my opinion, use better fonts than windows.

Again this is a matter of what your eyes are accustomed to. Ten years of windows also made me think like these, but after I spent 2 months using Linux as main desktop (MDK9.1 with freetype ), my eyes prefer linux fonts instead of windows.

Also, this and related matter could be addressed by freedesktop.org , whose work we'll enjoy on future distros maybe shipping Q4/2004 ?

Linux desktop world is in the middle of a twister of improvements and re-thinking, which will lead, believe it, to have the most advanced (and coolest if you let me) desktop by the 2006 I guess.

because of hinting patents?

X windows can have very good fonts rendering. It depend on setting, distro and the freetype library that you use. From all the windows environment that I use, the freebsd 5.1 that I installed this fall has the best screen output in my LCD monitor.

Are you sure your display is setup correctly? are drawings well-rendered?
I had an old video card, and i configured wrong refreshing, so i ended up with a vertical gaussian defocussing that made it a pain to read 10pt text