Thinkpads Forum

I believe we've all hit the issue of Scaling the Windows XP GUI when it blurs at non-native resolutions.

I believe Vista fixes that issue.

Is there such a thing on Linux? Which versions of Linux support Non native resolutions for LCDs on laptops.

AND / OR

GUI's that can show larger / clearer text for older people in my family who might need larger than the native resolution.

The most important thing with Fonts are to choose the correct ones for scalability. Bitmapped fonts scale poorly. Choose TrueType Fonts or FreeType fonts. The webcore fonts are good ones to use.

Here is a good webpage on the subject.
http://avi.alkalay.net/linux/docs/font-howto/Font.html

Turning on sub-pixel rendering (Cleartype technology) helps. Turning on the bytecode interpreter helps with TrueType and FreeType fonts. The problem is that turning on the bytecode interpreter infringes on Apple patents. Similarly, using Cleartype technology infringes on Microsoft Patents.

Here are a couple of links regarding the above technologies.
http://freetype.sourceforge.net/patents.html
http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS6944795565.html

If the fonts are in an image, such as a picture, there is not much that you can do.

The Liberation fonts are a good free alternative to the everyday MS Windows fonts. I use them on my Thinkpad and I've really gotten to love them. They're the best replacement I've found so far. Pre-installed in Fedora too.

doesn't matter what os you run, displaying 800x600 on 1024x768 will always look bad, even if you upscale the image in software first, then display at native res, there will always be a blurry image.

yes, you can increase the size of the fonts and the size of the mouse cursor, but that only helps you see things better at native res, it doesn't scale the image data.