[thelist] RE: [thesite] Cross browser fonts

[martin burns]

> <snip>
> I need to know what is a good substitute for "verdana" that is common on
> a mac. Would it be Arial? Or Helvetica? Or maybe something else?  Any
> suggestions welcome.
> </snip>
> 
> 
> Helvetica is what Arial was derived from by M . So that's your best bet.
> Its
> what I use as well...

But the difference is that Helvetica was designed for print (there wasn't any alternative at the time), whereas Arial was designed for onscreen use.

MS didn't do it's own version just so it didn't have to pay license fees in every copy of Windows; Helvetica basically doesn't have high readability on a 72/96 dpi display.

Cheers
Martin