Compared to Linux Mint 12, Windows 8 Consumer Preview does not have sharp fonts on same PC

Before I start my thread let me tell you that I have installed both Linux Mint 12 and Windows 8 consumer Preview on the same machine sharing different hard drives. I installed Linux Mint 12 on one of the drive whereas I installed windows 8 consumer preview on the other drive. My computer is Compaq 4400.

Now I do not understand why I am getting such a big difference in the font of both the OS even after installing them in the same machine which is sharing almost everything similar (only the hard drive is different). Is there anyone who has any idea about the difference in the font in both the OS?

You are sharing the same system for both the OS that you have installed but what about the video card. As you said that the problem is with the fonts (no doubt indirectly the issue is pointed towards the display) don’t you think that there must be something wrong with the video card of your system? May I know which video card has been installed into your machine; if possible also list down your system’s specifications.

As you are the first person I have seen complaining about the fonts in windows 8 consumer preview I would predict that it could be your system’s video card problem or something else but not the OS issue.

No its not a system problem because even I am facing the same problem with windows 8 consumer preview. I have noticed that the issue becomes wider when you are into browsing. Whenever I open any browser in windows 8 consumer preview the fonts becomes too dull and not so clear. I have a desktop computer that I self built before installing windows 8 CP everything was doing fine. Let me tell you that before I installed windows 8 CP I was running windows 7 64 bit which was doing great. But now the fonts are really too dull.

Even if you say that the above person who have mentioned about the same issue is suffering from bad or faulty video card or there is any problem with his card then how come it is possible that in his machine Mint 12 is having any problem with the fonts where as only windows 8 CP fonts are un-sharp?

Video card is definitely not the issue. In fact it’s the drive problem my friend. If you are not aware then let me tell you that windows 8 CP is currently suffering from this problem. Whenever the user installs windows 8 CP the OS takes up a long time to get the driver, sometimes they completely fails to get the driver for the hardware devices. This is obviously a bug in this consumer preview version of windows 8. There are other users who are facing this similar font issue and all of them found the same reason for the problem. if you notice there are even few programs that fails to run into it due to some issue. Everything will be soon sorted out.

Ok, so you mean to say that windows 8 CP have not yet been well compatible with the drivers. I must say one thing; the problem seems to be quite similar to what I encountered recently.

I didn’t face the problem with windows 8 CP but with Linux Mint 12. The problem was resolved as I managed to get the driver after a long time. once when I installed Mint 12 on my another hard drive I found that the OS was actually struggling a lot in getting the graphic drivers as compared to any other previous version of Mint. You won’t believe I took almost 15 to 20 days to get the drivers corrected into it. After a one of struggle I got the proper drivers available. Hope so Microsoft will focus and look into this issue and come up with a proper fix in their final release.

Hey I have got a suggestion for you. I am not sure whether it would work for you or not but at least you can give it a try. I know that Compaq 4400 system has ATI RV370 card, now if you are finding it difficult get a correct driver in your windows 8 CP why don’t you try out the drivers that are installed in your windows 7. I am sure windows 7 drivers would work for you once if consumer preview accept it. I guess initially it won’t get installed in windows 8 but if you try the same by running into a compatible mode for windows 7 then I guess things might go smoothly.

According to Microsoft windows 8 Consumer preview needs updated WDM 1.2 driver in order to get a proper display and video. Now the problem is that this necessary driver is only available from the latest video card which is rarely out in any of the system. Your Compaq machine obviously does not have that latest card to provide you with the WDM 1.2 driver.

For your information; some of the graphic cards that may have WDM 1.2 driver are Nvidia’s latest version and AMD 5000 series. If the machine has any of the listed graphic card then you can easily get WDM 1.2 driver and only after this you can have a smooth visibility of the fonts in your computer. Most probably WDM 1.1 driver should play a trick if you are lucky enough. Try it if possible.