AskVG

How to Get Mac OS or Linux Style Font Smoothing in Windows?

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There is no doubt, Mac OS and Linux font smoothing functionality is better than Windows. The text in Mac or Linux looks better and smooth compared to Windows OS. Mac and Linux fonts are easier to read and easy on eyes than Windows fonts.

Although Microsoft introduced Clear Type font smoothing in Windows but sometimes a few new fonts such as Segoe UI become hard to read and look too much sharp on screen.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could get Mac and Linux style font smoothing in Windows? Today in this topic, we are going to share 2 free software which can bring Mac and Linux like font smoothing in Windows. These freeware can be considered as a replacement of the default font rendering service in Windows. These software render Windows fonts smoothly which makes them easier to read and look nice on screen.

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Both these freeware are based on the good old GDI++ project which was started by a Japanese developer in September 2006 but was suspended very soon in the same month.

Since the development of GDI++ was discontinued by the developer, a few other developers started working on the same source code and released new improved versions of the same FreeType font smoothing functionality which was used by GDI++. These new software provide improved performance and better compatibility for all Windows versions.

So without wasting time, lets share these free software which will help you in making Windows fonts look-like Mac OS and Linux fonts as shown in following image:

Mac_Font_Smoothing_Enabled_in_Windows.png

These 2 freeware are:

  • gdipp
  • mactype

Installation of both software is easy. Simply follow the instructions given by the setup wizard and complete the installation process.

gdipp is easier to use compared to mactype and you don’t need to customize any setting in gdipp. It automatically starts its service and brings Mac and Linux like font smoothing in Windows immediately just after the installation.

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On the other hand, mactype is highly customizable. It comes with many built-in and pre-configured font smoothing profiles. You can select any of the given profiles or you can also create your own profile. You’ll need to give each profile a try as different font profiles will work differently depending upon the computer screen and its resolution.

You can download both of them using following links:

Download gdipp

Download mactype

Both of these software work perfectly in 32-bit and 64-bit Windows editions.

If you give them a try, feel free to share your experience and feedback in your comment. Do you know any other similar software, please let us know…

Published in: Software

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

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Comments

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  3. Yeah it’s done now, but I had to click on Process manager to get it working, it was disabled by default, Thanks it’s looking good now

  4. YES!! One more thing to add to my own manual Windows Look-alike Mac pack!! Thanks Vishal!

  5. Hi Vishal,

    I have been using GDIPP for some time, I think I will give “mactype” a try.
    Thank you!

  6. Hi VG, I got a little problem in gdipp. Some text in some websites like Youtube got kinda messed up. Any workaround with this?

    Yukii~ :>

  7. Thanks Vishal!, I’m using mactype on XP and it works really well, I knew about gdipp but I don’t like it because it isn’t very customizable (at least for the average user), but mactype is new to me and it works. Thanks again.

  9. good apps its freaking weird cause i had a hd font installed now i have this kinda blurry one so its strange

  10. how is the performance for LCD screens.
    pixelized Fonts were the only reason i am not using LCD!!!!

  11. nice thing!
    by the way:
    The arial font is unclear, this is what’s going on clear >> dear.

  13. ^^ Lots of. I have 1 Desktop PC, 2 laptops, 1 tablet, 1 netbook, 2 Android smartphones and 1 Samsung Note. 😀

    @nikhil
    It looks great on LCD.

    @Yuki
    No idea. You can try to change fonts using browser settings.

  14. gdipp is buggy with Arabic fonts and it makes a lot of fonts look foggy for me

  16. Using mac type at the moment, and after each restart – i need to set it up again. Then i shut down and restart then it goes bad.

    Will try gdipp, since it is also free to download and use, aint no harm in trying an alternative.

  17. MacType works like charm in my Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bits. Just to let people know it works well in a 64 bit system.

  18. I second Eric. MacType works awesome on windows 7. Quite unlike GDI++ which I’ve had lots of issues with, especially on word and powerpoint.

  19. I tried MacType in windows 8.1 and scaled the ui to 125% in the windows screen settings and I feel like if I was in a macbook retina, really nice, my screen is a 2560×1080 ultra wide.
    Just to let the visitor know 😉

  20. Hello. I have been trying to use MacType. I was able to set up everything and it yes, it looked great. But windows explorer is crashing and needs to restart – and then is crashing again within ten seconds. I’ve tried all kinds of run options and the problem persists. I’ve tried disabling ClearType in windows and it’s still happening. Any idea what’s wrong?

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