Try using fonts that both OS's use commonly... first pick for alot of websites is Verdana. I personally use this CSS tag for my fonts:

Yes, you should use traditional web design fonts....others will read differently on other OS's. You can always develop an image if you want to use a particular font that is not one of the acceptable ones. Only thing with that is that the search engines will not pick up the text if it is in the form of an image.

You should also specify a generic alternative in case the computer doesn't have the fonts you've specified:

Thanks, Verdana does seem to look better than the fonts I want to use. It isn't whether Windows comes preloaded with them, it's how good or bad they look when the page loads. On my mac there's Quartz. So OS X anti-asliases text so much better than Windows. But with Verdana as the first font choice, the problem is now solv...er..tolerated :-P

Thanks guys,

jeff

gortonsfi, write a CSS sheet for them, then using java have it first find the os of the computer and if OS == Apple/Macintosh then use CSS sheet so and so else OS == Windows use CSS sheet so and so. this will allow users on different platforms to view your site and get the most out of it that they can. i dont know enough java to give you the specifics, but im sure someone in the java section can more easily point you in the right direction.

I can't find quartz on my computer so I'm guessing windows doesn't have it at all. Therefore you could do this the easy way:

body { font-family: Quartz, Verdana, Arial, Georgia, sans-serif; }

This looks first to see if there's a font called quartz on the computer. If yes, it uses it. If no, it tries for verdana. and so on.

The only risk with this technique is that someone might have installed a windows font of the same name, which might not be clear and easy to read. Having googled it, the only quartz fonts I can find are lcd style ones. e.g.

http://www.fontfinder.ws/19137/Quartz.html

If that is the font you want (and I don't think it is somehow!) you could put LCD on as the second alternative. If not then consider Killer_typo's route just in case. Ofcourse, you're not talking about many people who would have downloaded that font, but to be on the safe side...

Regards
Dave

I'm satisfied using Verdana now, but thanks.

FYI Quartz isn't a font it's this: http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/quartz/

It's what makes everything in OS X look so darn good.

Ah I see. I really will have to get round to buying one sometime...