Running on Windows XP? Have you turned on ClearType? Don’t know what that is… well, it’s an amazing feature that smooths out that appearance of text on the screen. I heard about it via Channel9, and decided to give it a shot. I’ve recently gotten glasses, and so have been much more acutely aware of what I’m seeing and the strain computer monitors put on your eyes.
At first it looked weird – the fonts just didn’t look right to me. I thought, “I’m never going to get used to this,” but I decided to stick it out. It was a good choice. After about half an hour, I didn’t even notice anymore.
The real turning point came a couple weeks later when I recommended turning ClearType on to my dad. While I was at the page, I decided to toggle it off and see the difference. Night and day. At this point I’m sold.
Anyway, the link: http://www.microsoft.com/typography/ClearType/tuner/Step1.aspx
It’ll prompt to install an ActiveX control… your eyes will thank you if you do!