this post was submitted on 29 Feb 2024
138 points (94.8% liked)

Technology

59467 readers
4620 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] BearOfaTime@lemm.ee 93 points 8 months ago (2 children)

So let me get this straight. It replaces Calibri, but nowhere on the page is a visual comparison of the two.

It seems like something you'd put right at the top.

[–] ReiRose@lemmy.world 96 points 8 months ago (9 children)
[–] pivot_root@lemmy.world 34 points 8 months ago

The letters are more pleasant, but my god, that kerning is absolutely awful. It's horribly inconsistent, and some combinations of letters are spaced apart by half the size of an entire space, while others have barely any spacing.

For as bad as calibri is, at least it was easy to tell words apart.

[–] agent_flounder@lemmy.world 22 points 8 months ago (1 children)

The hero we need! Ty!

I'm not entirely sure why but Calibri has always mildly annoyed me. Maybe because it was the new default at one point and I preferred something else. Or maybe because I felt that the default font size should be 10 or 12 points not...11 (pffft huff) Maybe it was just misplaced resentment for having to use Office products (at work). The new one has kind of a fun look, though. Maybe I will enjoy it.

[–] stoly@lemmy.world 9 points 8 months ago

I recall when Times New Roman was default. Calibri felt strange at first.

[–] wandermind@sopuli.xyz 11 points 8 months ago

I was never a fan of Calibri but the new font looks way too Arial-like for my taste.

[–] BearOfaTime@lemm.ee 7 points 8 months ago

See? That's what the original page should've had!

[–] HeavyRaptor@lemmy.zip 7 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Almost feels like it's more about kerning than actual character changes. Though I do prefer the symbols of calibri.

[–] pivot_root@lemmy.world 17 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

The kerning is absolutely awful.

Just look at the "cr" in "hovercraft".
Or the "zy" in "lazy".
Or the "rtz" in "quartz". Or "sph" in "sphinx".

I get that kerning is hard, but the inconsistencies in Aptos actually make it harder to read, despite the glyphs being wider and more distinct.

[–] rbits@lemm.ee 7 points 8 months ago

Ehhh I don't like the new one. Calibri's better. I wish it had a better g though.

[–] fidodo@lemmy.world 6 points 8 months ago

I think it's an improvement. The characters feel a bit more confident if that makes sense. In particular, I think the M Q and S kinda suck in calibri. But honestly calibri kinda sucks in general so doing one up on it isn't that hard. I think aptos is a bit too bubbly for a default. I do like the curve on the l though. Still I think there are better fonts.

[–] Xtallll@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 8 months ago (3 children)

I hate the "h" in the new font.

[–] littletranspunk@lemmus.org 5 points 8 months ago (2 children)

I agree with you and I also hate lowercase e

[–] astrsk@kbin.social 2 points 8 months ago

At least the ! and @ are much cleaner and not italic.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] orclev@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago

For me it's the "l".

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Veedem@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

Exact same thought I had lol

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 55 points 8 months ago (5 children)

No, I'd have to use Word to notice.

[–] ptz@dubvee.org 19 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

LibreOffice is pretty fantastic. And I always know where my files are being saved.

[–] electromage@lemm.ee 6 points 8 months ago (1 children)

It's so confusing that you can't delete a document that you're looking at, but you can rename it. Identifying documents in OneDrive and then deleting them is tedious.

[–] dustyData@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago

Don't get me started on OneDrive. I have rants.

[–] stoly@lemmy.world 4 points 8 months ago

lol lol people downvoted you. So weird

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] deweydecibel@lemmy.world 45 points 8 months ago (1 children)

The end result, Aptos, is Microsoft’s trademarked intellectual property.

Well, there it is.

[–] danl@lemmy.world 16 points 8 months ago (1 children)

This is much the same as Calibri, Arial and other bundled fonts. Even Times New Roman is meant to be licensed for commercial work.

[–] deweydecibel@lemmy.world 5 points 8 months ago

Right, but they've changed the default from one that's been around for about 15 years and for which there are numerous open source alternatives to a new one.

The open source fonts will catch up eventually but really all this is about is them refreshing their proprietary shit for 365, and making it cloud based to boot.

[–] FiskFisk33@startrek.website 41 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Oh no now I feel old. My first thought was this would be about the switch from Times New Roman to Calibri...

[–] agissilver@lemmy.world 20 points 8 months ago (1 children)
[–] whoelectroplateuntil@sh.itjust.works 36 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

As a type nerd, I'm slightly mollified. I've had to spend the last 17 years pretending Calibri is a respectable font and not Comic Sans with a suit and tie

[–] stockRot@lemmy.world 8 points 8 months ago

As someone with mild dyslexia, that's why I liked Calibri so much

[–] stealth_cookies@lemmy.ca 26 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Subtle? It was immediately noticeable when I wrote my first email after it updated.

[–] stoly@lemmy.world 6 points 8 months ago

I seem to recall changing the default font back to calibri and not thinking much of it.

[–] conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works 24 points 8 months ago

Doesn't look super subtle to me. Personally (besides Apple defaults, which are great too), I tend to use Roboto.

I don't use anything Microsoft so I obviously don't care, but I think just changing it on existing documents is kind of weird, and people are perfectly justified being annoyed by that. Change it going forward. Don't alter stuff people already did.

[–] CherenkovBlue@iusearchlinux.fyi 18 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

I fucking hate Aptos. It makes my work emails (Outlook) look "quirky" and that is NOT what is needed.

[–] JackFrostNCola@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago

Agreed, i do like that its a little more 'light' but it also doesnt feel quite as professional or readable.

[–] Wanderer@lemm.ee 14 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Fuck it I'm going back to Times New Roman.

[–] TheRealKuni@lemmy.world 5 points 8 months ago

I installed Times New Roman on my Kindle. It’s just so easy to read over long periods of time.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] abhibeckert@lemmy.world 13 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

I'm not an office user but that font looks good to me.

Arial is an old fashioned (designed for paper) font and not even a good one, while Calibri is just a good implementation of the same style of font. Aptos is properly modern with nice wide characters and sensible letter spacing, definitely glad they've made the switch.

[–] MojoMcJojo@lemmy.world 12 points 8 months ago

I would like to represent those of us who use Word everyday and either kinda like it, or just don't give a shieeeet

[–] viralJ@lemmy.world 8 points 8 months ago

Of course I noticed! It's really annoying for a creature of habit like me :(

[–] dosse91@lemmy.trippy.pizza 8 points 8 months ago

I don't use MS Office but I think it looks good and slightly easier to read than Calibri.

[–] couggod@lemmy.world 7 points 8 months ago

I like that they added serifs to lower case l's. It makes them easier to differentiate between upper case It's. The lower case E's look silly.

[–] Fridgeratr@lemmy.world 4 points 8 months ago

Holy shit Aptos is so much better

[–] NaoPb@eviltoast.org 4 points 8 months ago

Still using Office 2003. No changes and working just fine.

[–] strahlemann@feddit.de 3 points 8 months ago

Calibri has always looked horrible imho but Aptos looks like a return to good old Arial.

[–] dog_@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago

Yes, and I hate it.

[–] rhythmisaprancer@kbin.social 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I have to use outlook for work, but we have accessibility guidelines regarding font size and maybe even font. I'm not sure I have seen this. I sent and received several emails today. I also don't like being in the office and maybe wouldn't have noticed anyway.

[–] silence7@slrpnk.net 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Large corporate environments often have a team which reviews updates and may defer them from being rolled out.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›