this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2023
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[–] Lowlands@lemmy.world 67 points 1 year ago (2 children)

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.

[–] AngrilyEatingMuffins@kbin.social 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

aren't they all basically helvetica anyway?

[–] Paradox@lemdro.id 8 points 1 year ago

GreatValue brand Helvetica. They muck up the lines and they look awful imo

[–] aln@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

Microsoft gonna Microsoft.

[–] Uniquitous@lemmy.one 51 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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.

[–] leo@lemmy.linuxuserspace.show 7 points 1 year ago

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

[–] Rexelpitlum@discuss.tchncs.de 25 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Should have kept the original name though.

"Bierstadt" would have been awesome!

[–] leo@lemmy.linuxuserspace.show 17 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The confusion on pronunciation alone would have been worth it!

[–] Pornphilosoph@lemmynsfw.com 9 points 1 year ago

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

[–] Z4rK@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year 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.

[–] TWeaK@lemm.ee 25 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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.

[–] leo@lemmy.linuxuserspace.show 26 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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.

[–] dustyData@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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

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[–] ryven@lemmy.dbzer0.com 17 points 1 year ago (2 children)

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.

[–] Shardikprime@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

WE'RE ALL LAMBS TO THE COSMIC SLAUGHTER

[–] Detheroth@lemmynsfw.com 3 points 1 year 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.

[–] Jackhammer_Joe@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

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

[–] sloonark@lemm.ee 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Damn. I was hoping it would be Papyrus.

[–] Shardikprime@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

But how would avatar 3 use it as a vaguely tribal and exotic suggesting font then

[–] sithbelle@kbin.social 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

@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!

[–] leo@lemmy.linuxuserspace.show 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Agreed on the name.

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

[–] surrendertogravity@wayfarershaven.eu 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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@kbin.social 2 points 1 year 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".

[–] Saturdaycat@kbin.social 7 points 1 year ago

Never will we come back to the glory of Courier New

[–] Molecular0079@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

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

[–] thayer@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 year 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.

[–] spittingimage@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (3 children)

But... I like Calibri... 🙁

[–] randombit@lemmy.sdf.org 24 points 1 year ago (2 children)

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

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[–] TurboDiesel@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

I really liked the squircled I dots.

[–] ixian@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Calibri is honestly a great font. Easy on the eyes and easy to read.

[–] Fantomas@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

🕈︎✋︎☠︎☝︎👎︎✋︎☠︎☝︎💧︎ ☝︎✌︎☠︎☝︎ ♐︎□︎❒︎ ●︎♓︎♐︎♏︎📬︎

[–] Capricorny90210@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Book Antiqua gang rise up!

[–] toasteranimation@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

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[–] SinningStromgald@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Arial or bust

[–] Rozz@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 1 year ago

Is there a good design comm here yet?

[–] SulaymanF@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

It’s too late, Nawaz Sharif was already impeached.

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