I always recommend using Firefox (FF) over any other browser on Microsoft Windows. However, FF has a problem with ugly and pixelated fonts on some system. This post addresses that problem.

I recently browsed my page on a school computer, with Windows XP, Firefox and a rather low definition screen. I noticed that the fonts were very ugly (see image below). Internet Explorer did not have this problem. It turns out that you can choose whether to enable font smoothing, and that IE has it enabled by default.

Before and after

If your displays looks like the left above image I would read the rest of this post, and fix it. If your display is like the right half of the image your machine was already configured to use font smoothing.

The solution

I assume that this is only a problem in Windows XP, but if you use Windows Vista or Windows 7 and you have this problem, the solution is very similar.

On your desktop, right-click, and click properties
Click the Appearance tab, then click the Effects button
Check the box Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts
Choose standard

Exit the windows by clicking Apply and Ok. You have now fixed the problem. I would be surprised if any new computers have this option disabled, but now you have seen it, and know what it is. It is not a weakness in Firefox, but in Windows.