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On my site, http://helvetitee.com, I have the following font stack:
font-family: "helvetica neue", helvetica, nimbus-sans;
Nimbus Sans (a web font) is pulled in from TypeKit.
On Windows machines, regardless of the browser, the user is shown Arial. It seems that Helvetica is rendered as Arial by Windows instead of falling back to Nimbus (which is an Helvetica clone and therefore preferable to Arial).
Is there a way, other than OS sniffing, to prevent this? Is it a known issue? It seems to be something of a liberty for Windows to just assume it's OK to show Arial instead of Helvetica.
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Helvetica is a trademarked typeface. It comes loaded on most Macs and in Adobe applications. The Helvetica font is sold by Monotype Imaging, which holds the license on the full Helvetica family of typefaces. Helvetica is not included as a default font on Windows computers.
Arial is a more rounded design than Helvetica, with softer, fuller curves, and more open counters. The ends of the strokes on letters such as 'c,' 'e,' 'g,' and 's,' rather than being cut off on the horizontal as in Helvetica, are terminated at the more natural angle in relation to the stoke direction.
4. Nimbus Sans. Designed by type foundry URW, Nimbus Sans is a great Helvetica replacement.
Generally, Helvetica is no longer standard fare on a PC system. So, if you use Helvetica then show it on a PC, the font will be replaced with a similar font, probably Arial but it won't look the same and may ruin your slide layout. Best advice: Don't use Helvetica. Use Arial instead.
Windows substitutes Arial for Helvetica. (Specifically Helvetica; not Helvetica Neue.) A simple way to see this is to declare font-family: Helvetica, Courier. Browsers on Windows platforms then use Arial, not Courier (as they should).
This can be changed by editing Windows registry, but as a web author, you can’t do anything about it (apart from attempts at OS-sniffing via browser-sniffing). It is an old issue (dating back at least to Windows 3, I think), though not very widely known.
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