kona, I found this: http://channels.lockergnome.com/linux/archives/20050126_why_do_the_fonts_in_firefox_linux_look_so_terrible.phtml
I know what you mean though, something about the Linux version of FF causes the fonts to display differently. I've seen the same sort of effect using Konquerer, but I'm prety it uses the gecko engine as well, so maybe the way that engine renders in Linux is the reason.

The font only looks 'normal' because it's what you're used to. Different OSes have different fonts. You can get the Microsoft font set for Linux from http://corefonts.sourceforge.net

tjesterb, Konqueror uses the KHTML engine, not Gecko.

The devs are using different style sheets for different browsers now, so that may have something to do with it. I'm using the Fox as well, but havent seen that issue. Firefox + Linux - Font = Screwy page.

You can get the Microsoft font set for Linux from http://corefonts.sourceforge.net

Yes, do that, and then boot back into Windows. Go Tools>Preferences and in General, select Fonts and Colors. Write down all of the fonts you see on that dialog and what they are used for. Now boot back into Linux and open FF. Go Edit>Preferences and select General > Fonts and Colors. Select the fonts in that dialog that you wrote down in Windows.

After that you'll have no problems with fonts (or atleast I dont) as in this screenie:

You can select what fonts Firefox uses. There are a lot of font sets available for download if you want certain ones not already provided. Also, what desktop environment or window manager are you using? It often helps to configure antialiasing and pixel subrendering as this improves font appearences quite a bit. How to do that depends on the desktop environment or window manager.

I have mine set up pretty nice and I think it looks better than most of the windows I've seen.

Make sure you have the regular Windows "web fonts"; Arial, Verdana and Times New Roman in your Linux system.

When the web-browser reads a web-page telling the browser to show Verdana
and the web-browser can't find that font, it will use a substitute.

That's one way to go, or simply tell the browser to use your chosen fonts all the time.

Mr. E.P. It was late last night, and I probably should have double checked my facts. There has been talk of porting Konguerer to run on the gecko engine. http://dot.kde.org/1094924433
When I go to ipchicken.com in Konquerer it does say "...khtml, like gecko...", so maybe there is/has been some work on that project. Sorry for spreading any mis-information.
BTW, I'm looking at this in FF on SuSE 9.2, and my fonts look fine, a little bolder than in Windows FF, but not that different.

Well I can't install the Microsoft font set because they don't offer it for debian based distros - they only have it available for the red hat people. I'll try everything else mentioned though.

psst.. OT, but... what Linux theme/skin is that kona?

Just the standard GNOME look I guess - not sure what it is called yet. I've been installing other GNOME skins so I'll post a SS of those soon.

kona0197,

Why don't you just copy the Arial, Verdana and Times New Roman fonts from your
XP windows/fonts folder to your Linux fonts folder? I mean, doesn't debian
read True Type fonts too?

Excellent suggestion. Thank you.

Hmm... Do you know if Linspire use KDE or GNOME? Can you switch between them?