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Fri, Nov 25 2005

New font for Windows Vista

Segoe UI
The new font for Windows Vista

Windows Vista is to have a new font, replacing old standby Tahoma. It’s called Segoe UI and can be inspected in the image above.

Should we make a fuss about something so plain and, at first sight, ordinary? Well, yes, more than a decade of research has gone into this by Microsoft’s shadowy Typography Unit. Segoe is based on ClearType principles and is designed to make onscreen text more readable and easier to scan.

Windows Vista will use the 9pt size, while Office 12 the 8pt version.

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Comments

  1. By SyceN 4 krEal & UsaN

    Saol tabi dlimi anlıcaksan o yuzden “ThanXAnyway, it is in the beta versions of Office 12 and Vista or you can search the web for a dodgy version like everyone else.You couldn’t ask for a clearer face”

  2. By K

    If you are working for Microsoft surely you can get the font from them? Anyway, it is in the beta versions of Office 12 and Vista or you can search the web for a dodgy version like everyone else.

  3. By Martin

    I need the SEGOE UI family font to do a job for Microsoft Argentina, if someone knows where I can get it, please notify me. THANKS.

  4. By is

    “Based on ClearType principles” indeed.

  5. By is

    The Segoe UI font that Microsoft wants to set as their new UI default font has been found by the office of the European Commission responsible for public design registration (read “trademark”) to be a plagiarized version of Frutiger Next sold by Linotype.

    Interesting that no designers picked up on this. It is a clear infringement. See for yourself at http://oami.eu.int/PDF/design/invaldec/ICD%20000000743%20decision%20(EN).pdf

  6. By Pam

    It’s pronounced See-go. It’s named after a street, Segoe Road, in Madison, WI. One of my cats is named Segoe, and he was also named after the street.

    Ladislas Segoe was a famous city planner. He did some work in Madison in the 1930s I believe.

  7. Trackback
    2351 days ago
    » Will Windows Vista help prevent eyestrain? Windows Vista Weblog

    [...] You may remember a recent post here about the new Vista font, Segoe UI, which is based on ClearType principles (see illustration). There’s no doubt that this font will help computer users prone to eyestrain. You couldn’t ask for a clearer face. [...]

  8. By Selj

    “Windows Vista will use the 9pt size, while Office 12 the 8pt version.”

    talk about consistency.

  9. Trackback
    2356 days ago
    TipsDr Blog » Blog Archive » New Font for Windows Vista

    [...] Just read on the windowsvistaweblog that Microsoft is replacing the font in Windows, what used to be Tahoma will now be Segoe UI. Don’t ask me how to say it. The new font is pictured below. Source: WindowsVistaWeblog via RealTechNews. [...]

  10. Trackback
    2356 days ago
    Alice Hill’s Real Tech News - Independent Tech » Windows Vista to Get a new SCreen Font: Segoe UI

    [...] the spell checker in Office 2003 has no idea what Segoe is. Source: the Windows Vista Weblog # Permalink  Posted at 4:31 pm         Send To AFriend     [...]

  11. By Jesse

    New is good

  12. By John

    LOL Graham. All good points.

    I must say, when I read 8pt in Office and 9pt on Vista I almost reached for my magnifying glass. I too use 12pt Arial in EditPad, and that’s got a big X-height for its point size.

  13. By Graham

    “..more than a decade of research has gone into this by Microsoft’s shadowy Typography Unit..” REALLY. And who came up with that name?

    It it pronounced See..go..ee UI? Sounds like an insult by the Seminole Indian Nation.

    Hey Microsoft .. “See..go..ee UI”

    If someone types an email with Tahoma in XP, do you get it with Segoe UI in Vista? It looks OK anyway, long as it is clear.

    Will 9pt be large enough on a 19″ TFT monitor that we all aspire to one day in the distant future?

    I use Arial 12pt in Notepad.