What font is the most commonly installed?

They have: 20 posts

Joined: Aug 2002

I am in the process of a redesign of the site of the company I work for. They want me to use a font similar to a custom font that they use for their ads and brochures. The closest match is Garmond and the common match is Times Roman. My question is what fonts are the most common to everyone. I am trying to find a common font that is easier to read and makes for cleaner graphics. Personally I like Verdana or Tahoma but the powers that be don't. Thanks in advance.

behind every successful man is one surprised mother-in-law

The Webmistress's picture

She has: 5,586 posts

Joined: Feb 2001

If you are actually making graphics then you can use any font as it will display the same on any PC it doesn't have to be installed on their PC, however, if it is for normal html text then yes it does have to be installed. One way around it is to use a list of font's in the style sheet so that you use the font you want, then list common alternatives. Times New Roman is often the default font on most PCs. Don't know how many people will have Garmond (or Georgia is close) but I do!

Julia - if life was meant to be easy Michael Angelo would have painted the floor....

They have: 20 posts

Joined: Aug 2002

sorry i didn't make it clear but yes it is for html i am just trying to find some other alternative that would be acceptable to those who aren't enthused with verdana or tahoma.

behind every successful man is one surprised mother-in-law

Megan's picture

She has: 11,421 posts

Joined: Jun 1999

Here's a site with a survey listing the popularity of various founds. According to this (and I can't find a date on it), 67% of users have Garamond installed while 58% have Georgia. 99% have TNR so that's always useful as a last option:

http://www.annabella.net/fontface.html

Who knows how accurate this is but at least it's useful as a guideline.

The Webmistress's picture

She has: 5,586 posts

Joined: Feb 2001

According to Webmonkey the most commly installed fonts are:
Serif-
Georgia
MS Serif
Book Antiqua
Times New Roman
Sans-serif-
Verdana
MS Sans Serif
Arial
Trebuchet
although it doesn't say what percentages.

Julia - if life was meant to be easy Michael Angelo would have painted the floor....

Megan's picture

She has: 11,421 posts

Joined: Jun 1999

Here's another survey: http://www.codestyle.org/css/font-family/index.shtml - very different results on this one with Garamond at 66%, Georgia at 73%, and TNR at 76% for Windows users.

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