• @[email protected]
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    672 years ago

    Hmmm…almost exact 15 years after the 2007 MS design patent on Calibri (which had a duration of 15 years) they switch to a new, alternative Office-exclusive font for the next 15 years.

    Only to be used ‘freely’ for personal use and again probibited to be bundled with, let’s say, other products like LibreOffice.

    It’s all about lock-in and revenue, plain and simple. The same business strategy like Apple with the default San Francisco font and Adobe with the default Minion Pro font. I understand why they do it this way, I just don’t like it.

  • @[email protected]
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    512 years ago

    Aptos was created by Steve Matteson, who is also responsible for Windows 3.1’s original TrueType fonts (including Times New Roman, Arial, and Courier New) as well as Segoe, which has been Windows’ default system font since Vista and is also used for Microsoft’s current logo.

    Fuckin’ hell though. You gotta respect someone who’s been in the game that long. And his one, single, sole job is fonts. That’s dedication. Or maybe just a gravy train. But either way, dude has predicated an entire career on how letters look. Mad respect.

    • LeoOP
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      72 years ago

      Well when you put it that way. Fuck yeah. I agree.

  • TWeaK
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    252 years ago

    Is this maybe a ploy to date things again? I can’t remember exactly what it was (I think it was in a Darknet Diaries episode) but there was a court case where a guy came in with a document proving something in his favour. It was a contract or letter from the other side of his case. They managed to prove it was fake because it was in Calibri, Office’s default font, which hadn’t even been invented back when the document was supposedly written.

    • LeoOP
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      262 years ago

      Amateur. Always use Times New Roman.

      On a serious note, it sounds like a transition to fonts that better support scaled 4K and up monitors.

      • @[email protected]
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        62 years ago

        Doubtful it’s a technical decision. That font doesn’t look any better than other fonts on hidpi.

        • LeoOP
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          02 years ago

          You might be right. Windows at 150% scaling has the fonts looking pretty ok… 🤔

    • LeoOP
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      172 years ago

      The confusion on pronunciation alone would have been worth it!

      • @Pornphilosoph
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        92 years ago

        It’s Bierstadt like Ale town or Beer city. And yes, Bierstadt works in German and is a part of Wiesbaden.

    • @[email protected]
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      82 years ago

      They are not actually entirely identical. Bierstadt will be available in its original form, while the new font have a significantly wider spacing between characters.

  • @[email protected]
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    172 years ago

    At first I thought there was something strange about the “s,” but I couldn’t put my finger on it. So I looked at the other fonts they considered and I realized I didn’t like the “s” in those either. Then I looked at the font on the webpage and realized all "s"es look wrong to me.

    I guess I just have to live this way now.

    • @Detheroth
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      32 years ago

      Don’t you dare continue to spread that curse. I’ve started taking a slightly longer at the s’es Ive typed and I am not sure I like what I see.

  • @[email protected]
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    122 years ago

    Friendship with Calibri ended. Aptos is my new best friend now. [insert related meme here]

  • sithbelle
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    82 years ago

    @leo I feel like some of the other suggested fonts were a bit stronger contenders than Bierstadt, though admittedly the name is awesome.

    I’ll miss you, Calibri!

    • LeoOP
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      52 years ago

      Agreed on the name.

      As for the others, I’m a fan of Tenorite. Squattier than the rest, but it has the most “character

      • @[email protected]
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        22 years ago

        I like the friendlier feeling of Seaford (the o shapes have a little tilt to them rather than being straight on the grid), but I’m guessing they leaned towards the most “generic” of the five because as a default font you want it to become “invisible” almost. I think a more unique font would stand out and then become a little grating over time given how much it would be seen.

        • sithbelle
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          22 years ago

          @surrendertogravity Seaford was my favorite of the group, too. It feels like it has a bit more weight, like it’s more “official” or something.

          Hopefully they’ll include it as a choice as well, even if it’s not the “default”.

  • @[email protected]
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    62 years ago

    I was…expecting something better than Calibri, but this new font is decidedly less versatile and pleasant to the eye IMHO.

    • RandomBit
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      242 years ago

      Too bad you are forever doomed to using Aptos since it’s impossible to change fonts.

      • @[email protected]
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        -42 years ago

        I am, tho’. If it’s the new standard Windows font, it’s going to become the new standard communication font at work.

        • @[email protected]
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          42 years ago

          I hate how people (not us but most people out there) are so profoundly lazy so as to do exactly this. Changing your default font in the options is too much apparently. So everyone becomes forced to use the default.

          • @[email protected]
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            62 years ago

            I manage a few shared mailboxes, so I’ll often get an email meant for “hlt” to the “hit” box. The scary thing is that all of these emails contain identifying personal information for clients and these people aren’t even making sure they have the correct email address before hitting send.

  • @[email protected]
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    42 years ago

    I havent’t read the article yet, but I hope they fixed the subpar rendering for general use, because Bierstadt looked terrible in general desktop apps. In fact, none of the proposed typefaces rendered well under native Windows ClearType.

  • @[email protected]
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    32 years ago

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