I recently upgraded my main Win2k box to WinXP. When XP first arrived I figured I would stay with Win2k until Longhorn shipped. After all, Win2k and WinXP share essentially the same NT 5 engine, and Win2k is fairly stable and reliable and does not lack in support from vendors. Yet, I was getting bored with Win2k and was learning about some of the extras that WinXP includes, like ClearType. Anyone who has used a Mac knows about Apple’s font-smoothing features. Apple initiated this in OS 8.5 back in 1998, and vastly improved it with OS X. Microsoft also first touted ClearType in 1998, but did not introduce it until 2000 with the Microsoft Reader application. Mainstream introduction was with WinXP.

What is it? Essentially it is anti-aliasing for your screen — not just any screen — ClearType works best on LCD monitors and thus also laptop screens. A technical overview can be found here. The short of it? If you are running XP and have and LCD monitor or a laptop, visit the first link in this entry and turn it on. The effect is dramatic and should reduce eyestrain.