KB2545698 - Hotfix to fix blurry font issue in Internet Explorer 9 (and Firefox ≥ 4)

[Arthur]

I haven't had this issue myself, but I thought it might be worth posting...

 

Links

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2545698

http://www.ghacks.net/2011/07/30/microsoft-updates-core-system-fonts-to-fix-blurred-fonts-issues-in-windows/

 

Symptoms

Assume that you install Windows Internet Explorer 9 on a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2. In this situation, text that is displayed in the following core fonts in Internet Explorer 9 appears blurred compared with the same text and fonts in Windows Internet Explorer 8:

• Arial (font style: Regular; font size: 8-point, 9-point, and 10-point)
  
• Verdana (font style: Regular; font size: 8-point, 9-point, and 10-point)
  
• Tahoma (font style: Regular; font size: 8-point, 9-point, and 10-point)
  

Cause

This issue occurs because of a design change to how Internet Explorer 9 renders text. By default, Internet Explorer 9 uses sub-pixel positioned ClearType to render text by using DirectWrite, whereas Internet Explorer 8 uses whole-pixel positioned ClearType to render text by using the Microsoft Windows graphics device interface (GDI).

 

[b]Hotfix Download Links[/b]

[b]Windows 7[/b]
x86: [url="http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/C/7/4C7D491B-6F78-4DB7-B87C-71777BF41E3F/Windows6.1-KB2545698-x86.msu"]Windows6.1-KB2545698-x86.msu[/url]
x64: [url="http://download.microsoft.com/download/0/5/6/05675ADF-21AB-4476-8731-95182643D02C/Windows6.1-KB2545698-x64.msu"]Windows6.1-KB2545698-x64.msu[/url]

[b]Windows Server 2008 R2 [/b]
x64: [url="http://download.microsoft.com/download/D/3/5/D350AA3E-5DE3-4809-8F99-CB032112A1F2/Windows6.1-KB2545698-x64.msu"]Windows6.1-KB2545698-x64.msu[/url]

[b]Windows Vista [/b]
x86: [url="http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/8/B/E8B562A1-5C44-49AE-A0D8-2C8AFA8A5E31/Windows6.0-KB2545698-x86.msu"]Windows6.0-KB2545698-x86.msu[/url]
x64: [url="http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/8/7/587EB8C3-ADCA-466E-B588-0F5F2E0D255E/Windows6.0-KB2545698-x64.msu"]Windows6.0-KB2545698-x64.msu[/url]

[b]Windows Server 2008[/b]
x86: [url="http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/7/9/4791922F-0BCD-4ACE-A3C9-721A56AB55D8/Windows6.0-KB2545698-x86.msu"]Windows6.0-KB2545698-x86.msu[/url]
x64: [url="http://download.microsoft.com/download/D/4/5/D4574009-2390-48AF-8F06-C3B96E2CFFB4/Windows6.0-KB2545698-x64.msu"]Windows6.0-KB2545698-x64.msu[/url]

[ZeroHour]

It appears I have had this issue as FF now looks much better (tab title text for example)

Thanks for that, I thought it was a FF issue.

[elsiegee40]

Ta! FF has been looking dreaddful!