Common fonts to all versions of Windows & Mac equivalents

Introduction

Here you can find the list with the standard set of fonts common to all versions of Windows and their Mac substitutes, referred sometimes as «browser safe fonts». This is the reference I use when making web pages and I expect you will find it useful too.

If you are new to web design, maybe you are thinking: «Why I have to limit to that small set of fonts? I have a large collection of nice fonts in my computer». Well, as seasoned web designers already know, browsers can use only the fonts installed in each computer, so it means that every visitor of your web page needs to have all the fonts you want to use installed in his/her computer. Of course, different people will have different fonts installed, and thus come the need of a standard set of fonts. Fortunately, CSS allows set several values for the font-family property, which eases the task a bit.

If you want to know how the fonts are displayed in other OS’s or browsers than yours, after the table you can find several screen shots of this page in different systems and browsers. Also, you can take a look to the list of the default fonts included with each version of Windows.

The list

First, a few introductory notes:

The names in grey are the generic family of each font.
In some cases the Mac equivalent is the same font, since Mac OS X also includes some of the fonts shipped with Windows.
The notes at the bottom contains specific information about some of the fonts.

Windows fonts / Mac fonts / Font family

1 Georgia and Trebuchet MS are bundled with Windows 2000/XP and they are also included in the IE font pack (and bundled with other MS applications), so they are quite common in Windows 98 systems.

2 Symbolic fonts are only displayed in Internet Explorer, in other browsers a font substitute is used instead (although the Symbol font does work in Opera and the Webdings works in Safari).

3 Book Antiqua is almost exactly the same font that Palatino Linotype, Palatino Linotype is included in Windows 2000/XP while Book Antiqua was bundled with Windows 98.

4 These fonts are not TrueType fonts but bitmap fonts, so they won’t look well when using some font sizes (they are designed for 8, 10, 12, 14, 18 and 24 point sizes at 96 DPI).

5 These fonts work in Safari but only when using the normal font style, and not with bold or italic styles. Comic Sans MS works in bold but not in italic. Other Mac browsers seems to emulate properly the styles not provided by the font (thanks to Christian Fecteau for the tip).

6 These fonts are present in Mac OS X only if Classic is installed (thanks to Julian Gonggrijp for the corrections).

How the fonts look in different systems and browsers

Mac OS X 10.4.8, Firefox 2.0, font smoothing enabled (thanks to Juris Vecvanags for the screen shot)
Mac OS X 10.4.4, Firefox 1.5, font smoothing enabled (thanks to Eric Zavesky for the screen shot)
Mac OS X 10.4.11, Safari 3.0.4, font smoothing enabled (thanks to Nolan Gladius for the screen shot)
Mac OS X 10.4.4, Safari 2.0.3, font smoothing enabled (thanks to Eric Zavesky for the screen shot)
Windows Vista, Internet Explorer 7, ClearType enabled (thanks to Michiel Bijl for the screen shot)
Windows Vista, Firefox 2.0, ClearType enabled (thanks to Michiel Bijl for the screen shot)
Windows XP, Internet Explorer 6, ClearType enabled
Windows XP, Firefox 1.0.7, ClearType enabled
Windows XP, Internet Explorer 6, Basic font smoothing enabled
Windows XP, Firefox 1.0.7, Basic font smoothing enabled
Windows 2000, Internet Explorer 6, Basic font smoothing enabled
Windows 2000, Firefox 1.0.7, Basic font smoothing enabled
Linux (Ubuntu 7.04 + Gnome), Firefox 2.0 (thanks to Juris Vecvanags for the screen shot)

Note that while the ClearType smoothing is applied always, the basic font smoothing of Windows 98/2000/XP is applied only to certain font sizes. That sizes can be specified by the font designer, but usually they are in the ranges of 0-6 and 14+ points (pt).

The Mac font list was obtained from the Browser Safe Fonts PDF of webbedEnvironments and from the List of fonts in Mac OS X of the Wikipedia.

Mac font to windows fonts

Windows 7/8, Windows Vista, Windows XP (Home and Professional), and Windows 2000 have built-in support for OpenType fonts (both .otf and .ttf), as well as PostScript Type 1 fonts (.pfb + .pfm) and TrueType (.ttf). You can use the Windows Fonts control panel to install or remove fonts of all these formats, though the control panel is accessed slightly differently between Windows XP and Windows 2000. See the instructions below.

To install your fonts using a font management utility (e.g., Extensis Suitcase, Font Reserve, or Font Navigator), refer to that utility’s documentation for instructions on adding and activating the fonts.

Windows 7 and 8

Navigate to the folder that contains the fonts you want to install.
Select the fonts you want to install. You can click to select one font, Control-click to select several fonts, or Shift-click to select a contiguous group of fonts.
Right-click the selected fonts and choose «Install.»
The fonts are now installed and will appear in the font menus of your applications.

Windows Vista

Select “Control Panel” from the Start menu
Select “Appearance and Personalization.”
Select “Fonts.”
In the Fonts window, Right Click in the list of fonts and choose “Install New Font.”
Navigate to the folder that contains the fonts you want to install.
Select the fonts you want to install. You can click to select one font, Control-click to select several fonts, or Shift-click to select a contiguous group of fonts.
Press the “OK” button to install the fonts.
Close the Fonts control panel when you are finished.
The fonts are now installed and will appear in the font menus of your applications.

Windows XP

Double-click on “My Computer.” Then double-click on the “Control Panels” icon, and then the “Fonts” icon.
In the Fonts window, select the File menu, and choose “Install New Font.”
Navigate to the folder that contains the fonts you want to install.
OpenType fonts purchased online from Adobe will be in the location you decompressed them to.
Select the fonts you want to install. You can click to select one font, Control-click to select several fonts, or Shift-click to select a contiguous group of fonts.
Press the “OK” button to install the fonts.
Close the Fonts control panel when you are finished.
The fonts are now installed and will appear in the font menus of your applications.

Note: If you wish to use PostScript Type 1 multiple master fonts with Windows XP or Windows 2000, you need to install ATM 4.1 or later, and follow the instructions below for installing fonts in Win 98/NT/ME. Do not install ATM 4.0 or earlier on Windows 2000 or XP.

Windows 98/ME/NT4

In order to use PostScript Type 1 or OpenType .otf fonts in Windows 98, Windows ME, or Windows NT 4, you must first install Adobe Type Manager® Light (ATM® Light), which is a free download from Adobe, and then install the fonts through ATM. OpenType .otf fonts require ATM version 4.1 or higher. PostScript Type 1 fonts require ATM version 4.0 or higher. Note that Windows 2000 and XP do not require ATM – see separate section above.

To install Type 1 or OpenType .otf fonts in Windows 98/ME or Windows NT 4.0 using ATM Light 4:
Choose Start > Programs > Adobe > Adobe Type Manager.
In ATM, click the Fonts tab.
Choose “Browse For Fonts” from the “Source” pop-up menu.
Navigate to the folder that contains the fonts you want to install (if the fonts were wrapped in an installer, this may be in C:\temp\Adobe unless you told the installer to put them elsewhere). The fonts located in that folder will appear below the folder’s name.
Select the fonts you want to install. You can click to select one font, Ctrl-click to select several fonts, or Shift-click to select a contiguous group of fonts.
Press the «Add» button to install the fonts.
Exit ATM.

The fonts are now installed and will appear in the font menus of your applications.

Mac OS X

Mac OS X has native support for Type 1 and OpenType fonts, which can be installed just like other font type on OS X. However, fonts installed in OS X system locations are not available to “Classic” applications (see section below). Fonts installed in the OS X native environment can be accessed by (a) any user or (b) just by an individual user.

To install your fonts using a font management utility (e.g., Extensis Suitcase, Font Reserve, FontAgent Pro or MasterJuggler), refer to that utility’s documentation for instructions on adding and activating the fonts.

Before installing your fonts, quit all active applications.
Locate the folder that contains the fonts you want to install.
If you have purchased Adobe OpenType fonts online, they will have been decompressed to a folder on your hard drive. If you have purchased multiple font packages, each will have its own folder.
Copy or move all the font files from their individual font folders into either of the following locations. (Note that the fonts must be loose in the destination folder, not in a subfolder.)
(a) /Library/Fonts/ Note: you must be logged on as an “Administrator” to place fonts in this location. Fonts in this location can be used by any user.
(b) /Users/ /Library/Fonts/
Note: fonts in this location can be used only by the specified user.
The fonts are now installed and will appear in the font menus of your Carbon and native applications.

Mac OS 8, 9 and Mac OS X Classic

Installing your Type 1 or OpenType .otf fonts on Mac OS 8.6 to 9.2 or Mac OS X “Classic” requires ATM Light 4.6 or later (4.6.2 for Mac OS X Classic).

If you are running Mac OS X, decide if you want to install fonts into both the Classic environment and the OS X native environment. If you want your fonts to be accessible to both Classic and Carbon/native applications, install your fonts into the Classic environment. If the fonts only need to be accessible to Carbon/native applications, install into the OS X native environment instead.

Note: Do not move an entire folder containing fonts into the System location. The Mac OS can only read font files that are loose in the system font location; it can’t read files inside another folder.

If you are using ATM Light without a font management utility. use the following instructions to install the fonts:

Before installing your fonts, quit all active applications.
Locate the fonts you want to install on your hard drive, or go to the location you downloaded the fonts to. Each font package or collection will be in its own folder.
Install your fonts in the System Folder:Fonts folder by moving or copying all the font files from their individual font folders into the System Folder:Fonts folder. For PostScript Type 1 fonts, this includes both the outline font files (red A icons) and the font suitcases. Often a family of outline fonts will be associated with a single font suitcase. OpenType .otf fonts are single-file fonts, and do not include font suitcases.
The fonts are now installed and will appear in the font menus of your applications.

Normal style	Bold style
Arial, Arial, Helvetica , sans-serif	Arial, Arial, Helvetica , sans-serif
Arial Black, Arial Black, Gadget , sans-serif	Arial Black, Arial Black, Gadget , sans-serif
Comic Sans MS, Comic Sans MS 5 , cursive	Comic Sans MS, Comic Sans MS 5 , cursive
Courier New, Courier New , monospace	Courier New, Courier New , monospace
Georgia 1 , Georgia , serif	Georgia 1 , Georgia , serif
Impact, Impact 5 , Charcoal 6 , sans-serif	Impact, Impact 5 , Charcoal 6 , sans-serif
Lucida Console, Monaco 5 , monospace	Lucida Console, Monaco 5 , monospace
Lucida Sans Unicode, Lucida Grande , sans-serif	Lucida Sans Unicode, Lucida Grande , sans-serif
Palatino Linotype, Book Antiqua 3 , Palatino , serif	Palatino Linotype, Book Antiqua 3 , Palatino , serif
Tahoma, Geneva , sans-serif	Tahoma, Geneva , sans-serif
Times New Roman, Times New Roman, Times , serif	Times New Roman, Times New Roman, Times , serif
Trebuchet MS 1 , Trebuchet MS , sans-serif	Trebuchet MS 1 , Trebuchet MS , sans-serif
Verdana, Verdana, Geneva , sans-serif	Verdana, Verdana, Geneva , sans-serif
Symbol, Symbol (Symbol 2 , Symbol 2 )	Symbol, Symbol (Symbol 2 , Symbol 2 )
Webdings, Webdings (Webdings 2 , Webdings 2 )	Webdings, Webdings (Webdings 2 , Webdings 2 )
Wingdings, Zapf Dingbats (Wingdings 2 , Zapf Dingbats 2 )	Wingdings, Zapf Dingbats (Wingdings 2 , Zapf Dingbats 2 )
MS Sans Serif 4 , Geneva , sans-serif	MS Sans Serif 4 , Geneva , sans-serif
MS Serif 4 , New York 6 , serif	MS Serif 4 , New York 6 , serif