Changing Font Type in Windows 8

[WWGD]

So, I got the most recent "upgrade" in my windows 8, and somehow, yet again, many of my original settings have been changed -- the pleasures of using windows. One of the most recent changes in settings has been that all my text is typed in bold font . I do not even see how to do a(n) ( internal. i . e ,within the computer) search -- it took me a while to even figure out how to turn the computer off -- for font type in order to change the default font type and internet-wide searches have not produced much . Now, I am not an old fart trying to buy the latest version of the interweb; I had a reasonable handle of windows 7, office and of some other previous versions , but the whole interface has changed (as it seems to do with all "upgrades"), and the default settings seem to change with every "upgrade" from microsoft. I use Passport/Outlook or whatever it is named now, and the bold button letter 'B' will not deselect. I assume this post itself will appear in bold font.

Anyway, sorry for the rant. Does anyone know how to switch fonts in windows 8 so that bold is not the default in every application one uses?

 

[DavidSnider]

Windows 8 automatically sets DPI scaling. So the text might not be bold, it might just be larger than you're used to.

Go to Control Panel -> Appearance and Personalization -> Display and set the size to be smaller.

Also set "Let me choose one scaling level on all my displays"

If it is actually defaulting fonts to bold (as opposed to them just looking that way) then that is really strange.

 

[WWGD]

Thanks, David, is there any way of preserving my settings thru the upgrades?

 

[DavidSnider]

Microsoft does its best to preserve your settings, but some things are fundamentally different and you just have to get used to them.

You're not alone in not liking Windows 8.1. They seem to have changed it so that it is primarily used for consuming media on tablets and other touch screen devices.

 

[WWGD]

Well, m icrosoft just installed it as an update, I had no say on it ; I know my system may crash without the updates. And, re the tablet thing, please don't remind me of the hundreds of times that I move the cursor around and all-of the sudden, windows redirects me who-knows-where, and I have trouble getting back to where I started. The interface sucks.

Sorry, David, I confused things by using the term 'upgrade' , instead of update. Maybe I should ask for
the latest model of the interweb. My bad.

 

[harborsparrow]

The "StartIsBack" third party utility has allowed me to like Windows 8 and 8.1 as well as I did Windows 7. It makes Win8x act essentially just like Win7 except for the occasional brief foray over into the block interface. Also, Win8x boots in one minute and utilizes memory more efficiently when you are running multiple applications. It has also proven stable, with the one exception of a cheap HP laptop whose HP drivers were poorly written. But on my other 4 PCs/laptops, I have been very happy with Win8.

Avoid HP machines!

 

[WWGD]

Thanks, harborsparrow, I'll give it a try , that is, if I do not first throw my laptop against the wall in frustration for the random pingbacks and not knowing how to get back to where I originally was. Or when I finally get back, I lost my work. Thanks for nothing , Gates. You would imagine that 20 years with a virtual monopoly and many billions in cash reserves would have allowed the "geniuses" at microsoft to design a reasonable interface. It seems Gates' skills are mostly, if not uniquely at playing hardball in business.

 

[harborsparrow]

It seems Gates' skills are mostly, if not uniquely at playing hardball in business.

I do agree with this quote. Microsoft has seldom been a leader in good user interfaces. However, they have always done one thing amazingly right, which is, to maintain backward compatibility so that older programs--as old as the early 1980's--will still run on Windows. This is a staggering feat and has been the source of much of the company's success, though it is seldom acknowledged.

To compare, my friend just bought the latest Mac OS, and it will no longer run Barfly, a freeware program that she was much dependent on for creating music. Why, Apply, why?

Also, Microsoft's block interface for mobile phones is quite well liked (by its admitted minority of users). The decision to glue that interface onto Windows is more questionable, but they really foresaw the leap to touchscreens. Even if it wasn't perfectly done, I am glad to see this vision in Microsoft. As frustrating as the company is, I'm too dependent on it to wish it ill.

 

[AlephZero]

Why, Apply, why?

Apple has figured out that it's core business is selling fashionable comsumer gadgets, not computers. Some of its long-term customers haven't figured that out yet, but if Apple ever had an ambition to become a bigger computer company than Microsoft, I think it changed its mind about that decades ago.