Windows Aero (Tahoma Font)

[Eric G.]

Windows Aero (Tahoma Font)

(Completely disable ClearType and remove Segoe UI from the Windows interface.)

In Windows 7 and Vista, one has the option to change portions of the user interface (UI) to whatever font one desires. Unfortunately it is not an option to change the font on certain parts of the interface. Segoe UI, the default UI font in Windows Vista and Windows 7, looks particularly bad after ClearType is completely disabled. However, ClearType itself looks very bad on older and/or cheaper monitors, previously forcing users with such monitors to either deal with the ugliness of ClearType or the ugliness of Segoe UI when ClearType is disabled. That's where Windows Aero (Tahoma Font) comes in. It replaces all instances of Segoe UI with Tahoma, the default UI font in Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

At the bottom of this post are two downloads. One for the installer and one containing all the files required to manually implement/install Windows Aero (Tahoma Font). The manual installation is included for those who wish to use Windows Aero (Tahoma Font) in addition to the original copy of Windows Aero. The installer, however, replaces the original aero.msstyles file for the sake of ease-of-use. Bare in mind that the Installation Instructions for the manual installation are sparse, however I will be happy to answer any questions. The manual installation should only be done by advanced users.

For more information, please read the following Readme:

Windows Aero (Tahoma Font)

(Supports Windows Vista and Windows 7)

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IMPORTANT: On all user accounts other than the one from which Windows Aero (Tahoma Font) is installed/uninstalled, you must manually switch themes in order for the changes to appear.

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Windows Aero (Tahoma Font) is a modified version of the original aero.msstyles file. The aero.msstyles file is used by all Aero-based themes. This modified aero.msstyles fully removes all instances of Segoe UI within any Aero-based themes and replaces them with Tahoma. Tahoma at 8pt was the default UI font in Windows 2000 and Windows XP. Windows Aero (Tahoma Font) was created using Vista Style Builder 1.4 by Andreas Verhoeven.

The following modifications were made:

• Segoe UI changed to Tahoma.
  
  • All instances of Segoe UI at 9pt were changed to Tahoma at 8pt.
    
    • Exception: Title Bar font was changed to Trebuchet MS at 10pt.
      

    [*]All other instances of Segoe UI were left at their original point size after being changed to Tahoma.

  [*]Antialiasing Quality changed from ClearType to Standard on all fonts in aero.msstyles.

Third-Party Programs Included:

• Universal Theme Patcher v1.5, Build 20090409
  
  • 
    In order to use Windows Aero (Tahoma Font), the Windows system files that control themes must be patched to allow the usage of unsigned themes. The installer takes care of this automatically by running the Universal Theme Patcher by deepxw if it is selected on the Components page.
    

  [*]NoSegoe

  • 
    If Windows Aero (Tahoma Font) is installed by itself, external programs that are hard coded to use Segoe UI, even ones included with Windows, such as Resource Monitor and Windows 7's Calculator, will continue to use Segoe UI. In order to avoid this, the installer incorporates NoSegoe by Steve Halpern. The version included in this is installer is slightly modified in order to remove the new variants of Segoe UI that come with Windows 7, in addition to the old ones.
• 
  
  • NOTE: Some Adobe programs must be run in XP SP3 compatibility mode or older after installing NoSegoe.
    

NOTES:

• The installer can be run again to add/remove components. However, please use the Uninstaller to remove all components.
  
• The installer must temporarily switch your Windows theme in order to install Windows Aero (Tahoma Font). Sometimes, due to timing issues, the installer fails to automatically switch you back to your originally selected theme after restarting. If this happens, simply manually switch themes.
  
• The "Disable ClearType" component only affects the administrator account whose credentials are used to run the installer. ClearType must be manually disabled/enabled on all other accounts.
  

Thanks to Andreas Verhoeven, deepxw, and Steve Halpern!

-Eric G.

MD5 Sums:

A37E82AC35E826398A3F84F94B8A82F6: Windows Aero (Tahoma Font) Setup

D71D7D581DCDB4DA241F1F4D5A7A989B: Windows Aero (Tahoma Font) Manual Installation

Downloads:

Windows Aero (Tahoma Font) Setup

Windows Aero (Tahoma Font) Manual Installation

Edited January 20, 2012 by Anaron

[Guest xiphi]

I actually think Segoe UI looks better than Tahoma regardless of the ClearType setting. I've tried Tahoma after being used to Segoe UI and it just didn't look right.

[MS Bob 11]

Good for CRTs.

[PGHammer]

Good for CRTs.

Not all CRTs, and definitely not the better ones (any CRT with a dot-pitch of .26 or smaller, or any AG CRT).

I haven't had TrueType/ClearType turned off for any desktop I've owned/built/worked on for the past decade (and that was three CRTs ago, back in 1998).

Since I moved from 15" to 17" in that year, I have *never* had ClearType (font smoothing) turned off.

I have a 23" FP display now (however, it's not an expensive sort; in fact, it's an Acer TN), and have kept ClearType on (in fact, the text looks better than most CRTs).

[Salty Wagyu]

Thanks for this, Cleartype is rubbish on my 22" LG LCD.

[Ahmed Samir]

Not all CRTs, and definitely not the better ones (any CRT with a dot-pitch of .26 or smaller, or any AG CRT).

I haven't had TrueType/ClearType turned off for any desktop I've owned/built/worked on for the past decade (and that was three CRTs ago, back in 1998).

Since I moved from 15" to 17" in that year, I have *never* had ClearType (font smoothing) turned off.

I have a 23" FP display now (however, it's not an expensive sort; in fact, it's an Acer TN), and have kept ClearType on (in fact, the text looks better than most CRTs).

Segoe looks OK on CRT's too, it did on my old DELL before I got a flatpanel. As a matter of fact, I've had ClearType enabled for years on my CRT before I got me a LCD. I don't see the point from using Tahoma. But again, this is just "my" opinion. Thanks for sharing this, and good luck :)

Thanks for this, Cleartype is rubbish on my 22" LG LCD.

</sarcasm>

[Benedictus]

Windows Aero (Tahoma Font)

(Completely disable ClearType and remove Segoe UI from the Windows interface.)

Thanks.

I can't stand neither Segoe UI nor ClearType. Also, Aero isn't my cup of tea.

With this Aero/font stuff MS made Windows' fonts look as bad as Linux', so it's a matter of just taking my beloved Tahoma to Debian and I won't miss a thing. Office 2007+ is a joke and my Office 2000 runs well with WINE. Off to Linux then...

Oh wait, they have butchered KDE in MS fashion.

What do?

[Kirkburn]

What do?

Stop being so picky?

It's a bit odd to get attached to a specific font.

[Lazure]

Wow, there's people out there who would GIMP Windows 7 this badly? What is wrong with cleartype? Turning off cleartype makes fonts look all jaggy and pixellated like in Windows 95. Also, Segoe UI is a wonderful font. What on earth would drag you back down to ........ Tahoma? Especially with cleartype disabled. Just get used to it, Windows 7 has Aero, it has Segoe UI,

Seriously, disabling cleartype in Aero? Are you out of your mind? Good lord.

[Eric G.]

As I explained in my initial post, Lazure, ClearType looks awful on some monitors. If I didn't have one of those monitors, I would have never wanted to turn ClearType off as it does look great when it works properly. For the few that are unfortunate enough to have a monitor on which ClearType does not work properly, the only real option is to disable ClearType and then switch the UI to another font. Segoe UI looks hideous without ClearType on. Microsoft provided no way of completely changing the UI font, so something else had to be done.

I'm sure you'd feel differently if you were in the same boat.

[Kirkburn]

As I explained in my initial post, Lazure, ClearType looks awful on some monitors. If I didn't have one of those monitors, I would have never wanted to turn ClearType off as it does look great when it works properly. For the few that are unfortunate enough to have a monitor on which ClearType does not work properly, the only real option is to disable ClearType and then switch the UI to another font. Segoe UI looks hideous without ClearType on. Microsoft provided no way of completely changing the UI font, so something else had to be done.

I'm sure you'd feel differently if you were in the same boat.

I'd get a better monitor. :)

Less facetiously, you've tried the cleartype tuner? (It doesn't surprise me that Segoe UI doesn't loo good without cleartype)

[Eric G.]

If I wasn't so broke, getting a new monitor would be a great option. Then again, my pride and frugality would have probably stopped me anyway. The monitor I do have works great as long as ClearType isn't on, so it would seem like a waste to replace it.

I've tried the ClearType Tuner. It just made things worse. Maybe I didn't play around with it enough, but I was immediately turned off to it when I found out there was no option to restore it to the default settings. Since I had expected such an option, I hadn't taken note of what the default choices were. What a gross oversight on Microsoft's part. It wouldn't be so bad if the default choice was the first box on each page.

[Kirkburn]

I've tried the ClearType Tuner. It just made things worse. Maybe I didn't play around with it enough, but I was immediately turned off to it when I found out there was no option to restore it to the default settings. Since I had expected such an option, I hadn't taken note of what the default choices were. What a gross oversight on Microsoft's part. It wouldn't be so bad if the default choice was the first box on each page.

Default settings don't really make sense when there's only basically six choices (and they're dependent on the monitor).

[Descartes]

Ditch Tahoma, go with Comic Sans

[Lazure]

Yeah, considering the monitors that wouldn't look right with Cleartype are EXTREMELY rare (even CRTs I had in the ancient past looked better with cleartype)... you are best off getting a new monitor, instead of trying to completely gut the Windows 7 UI to make it look old. There's not enough support for this, because the need to do this is actually rare. You are actually better off putting up with .. whatever problem cleartype is causing you than to try and cut the UI apart.

Even then, many many programs are designed expecting standard fonts and cleartype to be enabled, and sometimes trying to force-change these could break their ability to display their UI elements properly. This is why black themes don't usually work in windows, many programs break as they always assume a light type theme.

[Eric G.]

You are actually better off putting up with .. whatever problem cleartype is causing you than to try and cut the UI apart. Even then, many many programs are designed expecting standard fonts and cleartype to be enabled, and sometimes trying to force-change these could break their ability to display their UI elements properly.

While there are some programs that are designed to use Segoe UI, I have yet to see one that looks bad when forced to Tahoma. That said, NoSegoe, the component in Windows Aero (Tahoma Font) that forces the replacement of Segoe UI in everything that isn't part of the Windows UI, is known to completely prevent some Adobe programs from running. To get them to work however, you simply need to run them in compatibility mode for XP SP3 or older. Of course this has already been mentioned in the Readme.

Though it is possible that there are other programs that will refuse to run without Segoe UI, they should also need nothing more than a compatibility mode setting. As such, I see no reason why a person shouldn't try Windows Aero (Tahoma Font) if they feel they need it. If worse comes to worst and a UI element in a program is displayed improperly, Windows Aero (Tahoma Font), or even just NoSegoe, can always be uninstalled.

[Baggis]

Lazure: What exactly makes you think you know what is right for *everyone* when it comes to Segoe?? I have never had a monitor on which Segoe/ClearType fits me and my eyes! I would say it is not at all a matter of monitor but more of a question of personal preferences. Instead of ranting at Eric you should be glad there are people out there helping the ones needing it... I thank God for Eric and similar persons.

[Lazure]

You registered on Neowin today, just so you can say that to me?

[Baggis]

You registered on Neowin today, just so you can say that to me?

I think that is a perfect reason yes. The future will show what else I might write here :-)

[Azies]

I think that is a perfect reason yes. The future will show what else I might write here :-)

Retire, relax, enjoy your family. It is just a font. Not worth it.

......:p

[LiquidSolstice]

Retire, relax, enjoy your family. It is just a font. Not worth it.

......:p

HA!

+1 to you, sir. Hopefully I'm not the only one who got that.

[Auditor]

I am happy with whatever default windows 7 font is. I have 24 inch samsung Lcd monitor with 1920x1200 resolution and text looks awesome.

[stereox]

Hello everybody.

I hope i get some help here.

I changed all the fonts to Arial. Looks much better for me.

But here are still some fonts in the OS which i was unable to change them.

How can i set everything to Arial ?

In this link you'll see that in Everest the fonts are not Arial.

Same when i move arround the mouse cursor over the tray icons ( day,month letters )

Check the pics, please :

http://img225.imageshack.us/i/everestfonts.jpg/

http://img339.imageshack.us/i/trayclock.jpg/

Thanks in advance.

PS : i use Cleartype, but all i want is to "disable" this Segoe UI fonts

[Phixion]

I remember cleartype looking bad on my old CRT, however on my Dell U2410 Windows 7 fonts are sexy as hell...

[Eric G.]

@stereox

NoSegoe will let you easily replace all instances of Segoe UI with any other font, however you won't be able to change the font size. You can download the original NoSegoe directly from Steve Halpern's site. He already has Arial as an replacement choice. Be warned that his version doesn't replace all variants of Segoe UI under Windows 7 though. If you wish to do that, download the manual installation of Windows Aero (Tahoma Font) and open "NoSegoe - Tahoma.reg" in Notepad. Simply replace all instances of "Tahoma" with "Arial", save the file, then double-click it to add it to the registry. The "NoSegoe - Restore Segoe UI.reg" always works as intended without modification.

If you'd prefer to change the font size in the Windows GUI in addition to replacing Segoe UI, you'll have to do what I did and create a modified visual style. What Microsoft refers to as a theme relies on a visual style and all Aero-based themes rely on aero.msstyles. Vista Style Builder is a great program for creating/modifying visual styles (.msstyles files) but unfortunately it's not free. It's what I used to create Windows Aero (Tahoma Font), minus the installer.

Once you have Vista Style Builder, start a new visual style (it's based off of your current aero.msstlyes) or load the one you wish to modify. After loading, set the Search box to "Values" and then type in "segoe". This will show you all instances of Segoe UI (the default font in aero.msstyles). For a list of what I changed specifically, refer to the "The following modifications were made" section of the Windows Aero (Tahoma Font) Readme. Be sure to use NoSegoe along with your custom visual style in order to replace instances of Segoe UI hard coded into programs. The visual style itself only affects the Windows UI.

Let me know how everything works out and if you have any other questions. Good luck.