Note: This page is a supplement to "Why Windows Web Pages Have Tiny Text," published in TidBITS-467.
The following table displays screenshots of text rendered on Macintosh and Windows systems, ostensibly using the same type faces and size. From these comparisons, it's easy to see that, at any given point size, Windows uses a larger number of pixels to render text than the Macintosh. The fundamental reason for the difference is that Windows typically assumes a display has a physical resolution of 96 dpi, while a Macintosh assumes a display is a physical resolution of 72 dpi. Thus, when viewing using the same size pixels, Windows text appears 33 percent taller than Macintosh text.
These screenshots were taken using standard settings, with any anti-aliasing or "font smoothing" features disabled.
| Times New Roman, 18 point | |
| Macintosh | |
| Windows | |
| Helvetica, 18 point | |
| Macintosh | |
| Windows | |
| Courier, 18 point | |
| Macintosh | |
| Windows | |