WebspaceWorks Resources
In Fonts and Web Typography
- Legally Get Vista Fonts from Microsoft, No License Required
- Font Families & Web-safe Fonts: The Point of Penultimate Resort
- Visual reference to 19 fonts for cross-platform web design
- Fonts for web design: further comparison of cross-platform dependability
- Aspect values and x-widths for fonts
- Reliability of “Web–safe” fonts
Fonts for web design: further comparison of cross-platform dependability
When selecting fonts for use in web pages it is all too easy to fall into the ‘playing it safe’ rut of the supposedly web-safe set of fonts. Alternatives are invariably ignored, as is the way font-families based upon this small subset of fonts degrade on minority operating systems, i.e. unix.
In expanding upon the basic summary of Reliability of ‘Web-safe’ fonts, this article (updated: 26 October, 2008) goes beyond examining just the ‘safe’ set and presents results for 49 of the most commonly encountered fonts from all operating systems, in a way that more easily allows for cross-platform comparison.
For each operating system, the top 12 – 16 fonts, as listed in the Codestyle font survey were assembled into a single list, comprising 31 fonts across all-platforms. The frequencies with which these fonts were found in each operating system were then compiled into the tables below. In addition to these, extra typefaces were added to the list in October 2008 to address developments in both the Windows and Unix platforms.
As of October 2008 all frequencies presented below are derived from Codestyle.
| Font | Windows | Mac | Linux |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arial Black | 97.73% | 95.67% | 54.44% |
| Verdana | 97.41% | 94.02% | 55.00% |
| Arial | 96.97% | 96.41% | 62.78% |
| Courier New | 96.79% | 92.08% | 61.94% |
| Comic Sans MS | 96.72% | 91.63% | 51.94% |
| Lucida Console | 96.65% | — | — |
| Tahoma | 96.61% | 72.50% | — |
| Impact | 96.33% | 88.04% | 53.89% |
| Trebuchet MS | 95.79% | 92.38% | 51.39% |
| Lucida Sans Unicode | 94.09% | — | — |
| Georgia | 92.62% | 93.57% | 53.33% |
| Times New Roman | 87.32% | 90.28% | 56.67% |
| Arial Narrow | 87.25% | 90.73% | — |
| Century Gothic | 85.73% | 39.17% | — |
| Bookman Oldstyle | 84.22% | 14.17% | — |
| Book Antiqua | 83.79% | 11.67% | — |
| Calibri | 42.78% | 6.67% | — |
| Cambria | 42.45% | 6.67% | — |
| Consolas | 42.45% | 8.33% | — |
| Candara | 42.29% | 6.67% | — |
| Corbel | 42.04% | 7.50% | — |
| Constantia | 41.55% | 6.67% | — |
| Courier | — | 96.26% | 74.17% |
| Helvetica | — | 96.26% | 57.50% |
| Geneva | — | 92.08% | — |
| Monaco | — | 96.71% | — |
| Skia | — | 89.99% | — |
| Times | — | 87.89% | 48.30% |
| Bitstream Vera Sans | — | 20.83% | 78.77% |
| Bitstream Vera Sans Mono | — | 22.50% | 81.01% |
| Bitstream Vera Serif | — | 20.83% | 68.99% |
| Utopia | — | 2.50% | 60.83% |
| New Century Schoolbook | — | 3.33% | 46.94% |
| Fixed | — | — | 50.28% |
| Nimbus Mono L | — | — | 89.17% |
| Century Schoolbook L | — | — | 88.61% |
| URW Chancery L | — | — | 89.17% |
| Bitstream Charter | — | — | 90.00% |
| DejaVu Sans Mono | — | — | 90.00% |
| DejaVu Sans Condensed | — | — | 82.50% |
| DejaVu Serif Condensed | — | — | 77.50% |
| DejaVu Sans | — | — | 76.00% |
| DejaVu Serif | — | — | 60.00% |
| Free Mono | — | — | 60.00% |
| Free Sans | — | — | 60.00% |
| Free Serif | — | — | 62.00% |
| Liberation Mono | — | — | 47.50% |
| Liberation Sans | — | — | 47.50% |
| Liberation Serif | — | — | 47.50% |
| Font | Windows | Mac | Linux |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monaco | — | 96.71% | — |
| Arial | 96.97% | 96.41% | 62.78% |
| Helvetica | — | 96.26% | 57.50% |
| Courier | — | 96.26% | 74.17% |
| Arial Black | 97.73% | 95.67% | 54.44% |
| Verdana | 97.41% | 94.02% | 55.00% |
| Georgia | 92.62% | 93.57% | 53.33% |
| Trebuchet MS | 95.79% | 92.38% | 51.39% |
| Courier New | 96.79% | 92.08% | 61.94% |
| Geneva | — | 92.08% | — |
| Comic Sans MS | 96.72% | 91.63% | 51.94% |
| Times New Roman | 87.32% | 90.28% | 56.67% |
| Arial Narrow | 87.25% | 90.73% | — |
| Skia | — | 89.99% | — |
| Impact | 96.33% | 88.04% | 53.89% |
| Times | — | 87.89% | 48.30% |
| Tahoma | 96.61% | 72.50% | — |
| Century Gothic | 85.73% | 39.17% | — |
| Bitstream Vera Sans Mono | — | 22.50% | 81.01% |
| Bitstream Vera Sans | — | 20.83% | 78.77% |
| Bitstream Vera Serif | — | 20.83% | 68.99% |
| Bookman Oldstyle | 84.22% | 14.17% | — |
| Book Antiqua | 83.79% | 11.67% | — |
| Consolas | 42.45% | 8.33% | — |
| Corbel | 42.04% | 7.50% | — |
| Calibri | 42.78% | 6.67% | — |
| Cambria | 42.45% | 6.67% | — |
| Candara | 42.29% | 6.67% | — |
| Constantia | 41.55% | 6.67% | — |
| New Century Schoolbook | — | 3.33% | 46.94% |
| Utopia | — | 2.50% | 60.83% |
| Nimbus Mono L | — | — | 89.17% |
| Century Schoolbook L | — | — | 88.61% |
| Fixed | — | — | 50.28% |
| Lucida Console | 96.65% | — | — |
| Lucida Sans Unicode | 94.09% | — | — |
| URW Chancery L | — | — | 89.17% |
| Bitstream Charter | — | — | 90.00% |
| DejaVu Sans Mono | — | — | 90.00% |
| DejaVu Sans Condensed | — | — | 82.50% |
| DejaVu Serif Condensed | — | — | 77.50% |
| DejaVu Sans | — | — | 76.00% |
| DejaVu Serif | — | — | 60.00% |
| Free Mono | — | — | 60.00% |
| Free Sans | — | — | 60.00% |
| Free Serif | — | — | 62.00% |
| Liberation Mono | — | — | 47.50% |
| Liberation Sans | — | — | 47.50% |
| Liberation Serif | — | — | 47.50% |
| Font | Windows | Mac | Linux |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitstream Charter |
— | — | 90.00% |
| DejaVu Sans Mono | — | — | 90.00% |
| Nimbus Mono L | — | — | 89.17% |
| URW Chancery L | — | — | 89.17% |
| Century Schoolbook L | — | — | 88.61% |
| DejaVu Sans Condensed | — | — | 82.50% |
| Bitstream Vera Sans Mono | — | 22.50% | 81.01% |
| Bitstream Vera Sans | — | 20.83% | 78.77% |
| DejaVu Serif Condensed | — | — | 77.50% |
| DejaVu Sans | — | — | 76.00% |
| Courier | — | 96.26% | 74.17% |
| Bitstream Vera Serif | — | 20.83% | 68.99% |
| Arial | 96.97% | 96.41% | 62.78% |
| Free Serif | — | — | 62.00% |
| Courier New | 96.79% | 92.08% | 61.94% |
| Utopia | — | 2.50% | 60.83% |
| DejaVu Serif | — | — | 60.00% |
| Free Mono | — | — | 60.00% |
| Free Sans | — | — | 60.00% |
| Helvetica | — | 96.26% | 57.50% |
| Times New Roman | 87.32% | 90.28% | 56.67% |
| Verdana | 97.41% | 94.02% | 55.00% |
| Arial Black | 97.73% | 95.67% | 54.44% |
| Georgia | 92.62% | 93.57% | 53.33% |
| Impact | 96.33% | 88.04% | 53.89% |
| Comic Sans MS | 96.72% | 91.63% | 51.94% |
| Trebuchet MS | 95.79% | 92.38% | 51.39% |
| Fixed | — | — | 50.28% |
| Times | — | 87.89% | 48.30% |
| Liberation Mono | — | — | 47.50% |
| Liberation Sans | — | — | 47.50% |
| Liberation Serif | — | — | 47.50% |
| New Century Schoolbook | — | 3.33% | 46.94% |
| Lucida Console | 96.65% | — | — |
| Lucida Sans Unicode | 94.09% | — | — |
| Tahoma | 96.61% | 72.50% | — |
| Arial Narrow | 87.25% | 90.73% | — |
| Book Antiqua | 83.79% | 11.67% | — |
| Bookman Oldstyle | 84.22% | 14.17% | — |
| Century Gothic | 85.73% | 39.17% | — |
| Geneva | — | 92.08% | — |
| Monaco | — | 96.71% | — |
| Skia | — | 89.99% | — |
| Calibri | 42.78% | 6.67% | — |
| Cambria | 42.45% | 6.67% | — |
| Consolas | 42.45% | 8.33% | — |
| Candara | 42.29% | 6.67% | — |
| Corbel | 42.04% | 7.50% | — |
| Constantia | 41.55% | 6.67% | — |
No surprise!
Unix seems to inhabit a little world all its own when it comes to fonts, with its most common fonts falling outside the set that is commonly accepted as being “Web-safe”. OK, font-families is really no reason for the website designer to cede control of this to the browser when suitable candidates do exist and could be specified as part of the font-family.
Some surprises!
What was surprising was the relatively low availability reported for Times New Roman, especially on Windows and Mac platforms, but this is potentially down to the manual nature of the Codestyle font-survey and the “invisibility’ of the Times New Roman typeface.
So what?!
This again is intended as no more than a rough guide, presenting a summary of available information drawn primarily from one of the two available online font surveys, and susceptable to the weaknesses inherent to it.
The numbers are still of interest, and go further to confirm the uniqueness of unix as a browsing platform, one that warrents particular attention from web developers if it is to be dealt with in a controlled manner.
What this article does is to identify some of the best candidate fonts for use on unix, something that the previous reliability article missed because of its focus on the “Web-safe” subset of fonts that the most common unix fonts do not fall into.
Updates
26 October, 2008: Updated with Codestyle survey results for October 2008 and removed all figures derived from the old and inactive Visibone survey.
Developments in Windows (VISTA) and with new linux distributions have also necessitated the inclusion of additional fonts for those operating systems. The VISTA ‘C’ fonts, and for unix the DejaVu, Free and Liberation fonts have
therefore been added, bringing the total font list to 49 (from 31 originally).
11 February, 2007: Updated with Codestyle survey results for February 2007.
Copyright on information presented here in summarised form remains with the respective originators, as credited above.
