Font size: osx vs. windows

[Gary]

On my desktop computer, a mac using osx, the keys Command-+ and
Command-- cause the current font on the screen to get larger (Cmd+) or
smaller (Cmd-). Although I have a 24" monitor, I frequently use the
keys to make the font large enough for my old tired eyes to be able to
read comfortably.

I recently purchased a netbook (12") to use mainly for travel. It uses
Windows 7, and I cannot find the equivalent function, although it would
be even more useful on my 12" screen as it is on my 24" screen. There
is a "Magnifier" built it, but it goes in incremental steps that
immediately make the font too large or too small.

Does anyone know of an add-on that would give me a convenient screen
font increase/decrease in Windows 7?

 

[BillW50]

Gary wrote on 18 Apr 2010 10:023 -0400:
> On my desktop computer, a mac using osx, the keys Command-+ and
> Command-- cause the current font on the screen to get larger (Cmd+) or
> smaller (Cmd-). Although I have a 24" monitor, I frequently use the
> keys to make the font large enough for my old tired eyes to be able to
> read comfortably.
>
> I recently purchased a netbook (12") to use mainly for travel. It uses
> Windows 7, and I cannot find the equivalent function, although it would
> be even more useful on my 12" screen as it is on my 24" screen. There
> is a "Magnifier" built it, but it goes in incremental steps that
> immediately make the font too large or too small.
>
> Does anyone know of an add-on that would give me a convenient screen
> font increase/decrease in Windows 7?

Well I do believe Windows 7 like Windows XP has a magnifier. If not,
there are some utilities that does this too. I am not too fond of this
method. But they do magnify greatly and works when you really need to
see something really small. I use them a lot when I use a TV as a monitor.

Some applications like IE and MS Word you can increase or decrease the
font size by holding the CTRL key down and using the scroll wheel or the
scroll pad on touchpads. Some other applications can be changed by the
zoom feature in the menu.

A quick and dirty trick is also to lower the screen resolution. Although
it is true that LCD screens generally look better at their native
resolution. That is true of great eyesight, but those with poor eyesight
might not even notice and will gladly accept the trade off.

Another way is to change the DPI of the fonts. I forget where this is in
Windows 7. And I really don't like this option too much. As making the
fonts looking larger tends to make some text to not fit right in some
windows and menus.

Hopefully others might have some other choices for you to make too. And
if you have any questions, just ask.

--
Bill
Asus EEE PC 702G4 ~ 2GB RAM ~ 16GB-SDHC
Xandros Linux (build 2007-10-19 13:03)

 

[Barry Watzman]

You can change the size of everything in display properties. I'm using
an XP machine right now and can't tell you exactly how to do it, but
open the "classic" display properties menu, then settings, then
advanced, then DPI settings (this is under XP, but I think that the
window is the same in 7 once you get to it). Microsoft didn't provide
as easy a way to do this as you apparently have on the Mac; it's not
something that most people will change often.

Note: This is the "right" way to do this. DO NOT do it by changing the
display resolution. That is the "wrong" way to do it.


Gary wrote:
> On my desktop computer, a mac using osx, the keys Command-+ and
> Command-- cause the current font on the screen to get larger (Cmd+) or
> smaller (Cmd-). Although I have a 24" monitor, I frequently use the
> keys to make the font large enough for my old tired eyes to be able to
> read comfortably.
>
> I recently purchased a netbook (12") to use mainly for travel. It uses
> Windows 7, and I cannot find the equivalent function, although it would
> be even more useful on my 12" screen as it is on my 24" screen. There
> is a "Magnifier" built it, but it goes in incremental steps that
> immediately make the font too large or too small.
>
> Does anyone know of an add-on that would give me a convenient screen
> font increase/decrease in Windows 7?
>

 

[BillW50]

In news:hqfbu1$f1u$1@news.eternal-september.org,
Barry Watzman typed on Sun, 18 Apr 2010 12:27:44 -0400:
> You can change the size of everything in display properties. I'm
> using an XP machine right now and can't tell you exactly how to do
> it, but open the "classic" display properties menu, then settings,
> then advanced, then DPI settings (this is under XP, but I think that
> the window is the same in 7 once you get to it). Microsoft didn't
> provide as easy a way to do this as you apparently have on the Mac;
> it's not something that most people will change often.

I should have taken bets as I just knew you would jump on this subject
and say what you said about all of this.

And second of all, this DPI method has some problems which you never
speak about.

1) Only changes text size and nothing else. People who has a hard time
seeing tiny fonts also have a hard time seeing tiny icons too. And this
method doesn't help at all here.

2) This does enlarge fonts, but the window and menu sizes stays the same
size. Which in turn causes the enlarged text to disappear at the
borders. Thus it is clipped or completely missing some parts. Some of
which is very important.

> Note: This is the "right" way to do this. DO NOT do it by changing
> the display resolution. That is the "wrong" way to do it.

Ah... yes it is true LCD screens are the sharpest at their native
resolution. Although this is meaningless if you can't see the tiny icons
and/or fonts anyway. Thus for these people, I noticed they can't really
tell that a lower resolution results in a bit less clear image since the
images are much larger for them to see and they have far less eye
strain. So while there is indeed a trade off, it is a fair trade off for
these people anyway.

I am so positive that if there was a super high resolution LCD monitor
that was so tiny that you couldn't even see the tiny fonts and icons
without holding up a magnifying glass up to the screen. That you too
would lower the resolution just to make it useful. Fortunately they
don't exist for you yet.

--
Bill
Gateway MX6124 ('06 era) 1 of 3 - Windows XP SP2

 

[Gary]

Thanks to the several people that answered my question. Actually,
looking around the W7 screen, I found the magnifier. I'm not crazy
about it ... clicking it goes from 100% to 125 to 150 then to 100
again. I don't think the increment is adjustable.

On 2010-04-18 10:023 -0400, Gary <gary_w1@hotline.com> said:

> On my desktop computer, a mac using osx, the keys Command-+ and
> Command-- cause the current font on the screen to get larger (Cmd+) or
> smaller (Cmd-). Although I have a 24" monitor, I frequently use the
> keys to make the font large enough for my old tired eyes to be able to
> read comfortably.
>
> I recently purchased a netbook (12") to use mainly for travel. It uses
> Windows 7, and I cannot find the equivalent function, although it would
> be even more useful on my 12" screen as it is on my 24" screen. There
> is a "Magnifier" built it, but it goes in incremental steps that
> immediately make the font too large or too small.
>
> Does anyone know of an add-on that would give me a convenient screen
> font increase/decrease in Windows 7?