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Veltliner · Nov 1, 2009, 05:40 PM

I have the impression that text is better to read in Safari than in Firefox.

Has anybody else had this impression?

Is it a question of anti-aliasing? Something that can be changed in the settings of Firefox?

ibook_steve · Nov 2, 2009, 12:27 AM

Can you point to pages for comparison? I see no difference between the two.

Steve

EndlessMac · Nov 2, 2009, 02:14 AM

The two web browsers are pretty similar to me. Try to do a screen capture of each and post a cropped full size of them here.

Veltliner · Nov 2, 2009, 03:45 AM

On this forum here the difference is negligible.

But on this forum here, it's hard to read using Firefox. The text is larger, stretched, edgy, hard to read.

I picked a random thread, it's just about the text:

How many of you landed your manager off of a Cold Query? - Done Deal Pro Message Board

Compare the way this text looks on Safari and Firefox.

ghporter · Nov 2, 2009, 07:36 AM

I don't see a noticeable difference between the two (FF 3.5.4, Safari 4.0.3) on my 20" iMac.

TETENAL · Nov 2, 2009, 08:08 AM

Safari is on the left, Firefox on the right. There is an obvious difference. It appears as if the font in Firefox is one point larger. Both have Times 16 and Courier 13 set as standard font.

On this forum the font appears to be the same size, yet there is still a tiny difference in font rendering.

I couldn't tell which would be more legible to me, if any difference at all. On paper Firefox' font rendering is better since it supports kerning and ligatures.

richwig83 · Nov 2, 2009, 08:11 AM

To me... the left looks clearer even tho its ever so slightly smaller!

ghporter · Nov 2, 2009, 08:23 AM

Originally Posted by TETENAL

There is an obvious difference. It appears as if the font in Firefox is one point larger.

Since you can select how large FF renders text, I did not include noting that the text appeared larger in FireFox than in Safari. I did not see a noticeable difference in how clear, sharp, or well-formed the text was between the two browsers.

Eug · Nov 2, 2009, 09:39 AM

Font size control seems slightly finer grained on Firefox. Furthermore I noticed that font/zoom size chosen with the Apple+ keystroke is retained after the application window is quit in Firefox. In Safari it goes back to the original font/zoom size when you relaunch the app, and as far as I can tell, there is no preference setting for it.

I was checking out Safari on a 27" iMac, and the two advantages of Firefox may be enough for me to switch to Firefox as my main browser on the iMac, since the pixel size on that machine is so much smaller than most desktops. The pixel density of the 27" is small enough (at 109 ppi) to approach the density on laptops, which means that at a 3 foot viewing distance, it can be problematic for some people (like me) with the default font sizing for web browsing.

Summary: IMO, on the 27" iMac, Firefox works better than Safari.

pendragon · Nov 2, 2009, 10:58 AM

I find that scrolling is much, much smoother with FF.

But why that is, I dunno. I just wish Safari would be that smooth or that something could be done to make it so.

Veltliner · Nov 2, 2009, 11:27 PM

Originally Posted by richwig83

To me... the left looks clearer even tho its ever so slightly smaller!

This was my impression, too.