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I just installed Ubuntu as my core operating system and am having a bit of a panic.. Is there any strategy for making the fonts/browser defaults for browsers (and the OS in general) render similarly to Windows Vista or Mac OSX? I'm afraid accurate web design work in this environment will be total guess work..

tester
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  • Did your definition of "accurate web design work" not include Linux in the first place? – Greg Hewgill Jul 10 '10 at 07:07
  • I suppose I have set a standard for my visuals as the visuals on Windows and Mac Firefox browsers. Just trying to see if there's any way to make my os behave more like those operating systems as far as visuals go – tester Jul 10 '10 at 07:20

2 Answers2

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Firefox renders indeed fonts differently in Linux/Ubuntu, because Microsoft TrueType fonts are missing, and because default font settings are different. Try to install Microsoft TrueType fonts (Arial, Trebuchet MS) with

sudo apt-get install ttf-mscorefonts-installer

Then adjust the font settings in Firefox, i.e. open up Firefox, select

Edit >> Preferences >> Content >> Fonts & Colors - Advanced

The following ubuntu font settings are described here and work for me:

Fonts for: Western
Proportional: Serif, Size 16
Serif: Times New Roman
Sans-serif: Arial
Monospace: Courier New, Size 12
Community
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0x4a6f4672
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A suggestion is using tools like this one http://browsershots.org/ ; they are very slow, but can be handy sometimes.

Gabi Purcaru
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  • what about for offline/localhost testing? – tester Jul 10 '10 at 07:20
  • for offline testing you could install the windows/osx fonts and change the defaults, but i doubt they would render exactly as they should. another solution is using virtualization software and installing the needed os – Gabi Purcaru Jul 10 '10 at 07:24