[adamjh]

Just got my new iBook! (14/933/60G/640RAM). Very happy so far, seems very speedy and sturdy. Only one complaint so far: Small type looks pretty bad on the 14-inch screen. I understand the resolution isn't the greatest for this size of screen, but is there anything I can do to make these fuzzy small fonts easier to read? Can someone explain font or text "smoothing"? Everything else running very smoothly. Thanks a bunch.

[SupahCoolX]

Font smoothing is basically a way that the computer "blurs" the edges of letters, so things appear rounder. The letter "o" appears as a circle, doesn't have sharp edges, etc. as on older computers.

Play around with the smoothing options in the Appearance System Preference pane. There are different options (Strong, light, and so on) to adjust the "intensity" of the smoothing. The minimum font size setting tells the computer not to bother with fonts below that size, because blurring such small type can make it unreadable instead of smoother. You may have to log out and back in to see changes take effect. Just try them out and see what looks best to you.

[StuartB]

Neat, how long did it take? Just ordered one yesterday and trying to get an idea of when it might come...

[nickgold2012]

I think ship time depends on the model. I ordered a BTO 12" 800 w/ AE, BT, 640MB, 40GB. Placed on 11/15, shipped today, slated to arrive on Monday. Not bad at all, it was supposed to ship on or before 11/24, and it was definitely before!

Soooooo excited -- Mac I'm on now is a G4 450 Sawtooth tower. No more desktops again EVER!

[StuartB]

Originally posted by nickgold2012:
I think ship time depends on the model. I ordered a BTO 12" 800 w/ AE, BT, 640MB, 40GB. Placed on 11/15, shipped today, slated to arrive on Monday. Not bad at all, it was supposed to ship on or before 11/24, and it was definitely before!

Soooooo excited -- Mac I'm on now is a G4 450 Sawtooth tower. No more desktops again EVER!

Great, I got almost the same thing! Read somewhere about delays but I guess no worries!

[nickgold2012]

Looking at my tracking info today, I see it's already in Baltimore? Maybe it will be delivered today?! I don't quite get how it went from Taiwan to Balti in 1 day, but needless to say, I am impressed.

PLEASE Lord, make this an iBook weekend!
(And make peace on Earth while yer at it!)

[Sophus]

Originally posted by adamjh:
Just got my new iBook! (14/933/60G/640RAM). Very happy so far, seems very speedy and sturdy. Only one complaint so far: Small type looks pretty bad on the 14-inch screen. I understand the resolution isn't the greatest for this size of screen, but is there anything I can do to make these fuzzy small fonts easier to read? Can someone explain font or text "smoothing"? Everything else running very smoothly. Thanks a bunch.

As the secon poster said. The "medium - best for LCD" is as stated, normally the best option for flat panels. It uses sub-pixel smoothing.

The OSX defaults to standard font smoothing for CRT's. I find this strange since all apple equipment (except the eMac) carries a flat panel screen.

BTW: ju can also raise the bar for which size of fonts the system shall smoothe (antialias).