Linux’s clear type problem
Great post from Scoble about why the biggest problem with Linux on the desktop is the lack of readable fonts. As he says:
Why is this important? Name the #1 thing you look at most on your computer screen. For me it’s the characters on the screen. If one OS has better looking characters than another (Windows Vista has a whole set of new fonts coming) then that OS will win with most users who aren’t geeks.
Now that I’m switching among Ubuntu, XP and OS X on a daily basis, I’d have to agree. Text definitely looks better on the other platforms. The Linux community has done an amazing job of addressing many of the major usability problems that used to plague the OS (plug-and-play, drivers, decent GUIs), but type is still a big issue. And given that, as Scoble points out, leading typographers “don’t do their work for free,” improving the situation may require some intervention by either a corporation with a vested interest in building the market for Linux (hello, Novell!) or a sugar daddy with a personal interest in the same (hello, Mark Shuttleworth!). Otherwise, as Scoble says, “Microsoft and Apple will win this game.”
Update: Here’s some good info about improving font quality under Linux. I won’t say this completely invalidates Scoble’s comments, but it definitely shows that the game isnt quite as one-sided as he believes.
