Use Windows Vista fonts in Windows XP

Martin Brinkmann
Mar 8, 2008
Updated • Oct 5, 2015
Windows, Windows tips
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25

Microsoft did change some of the system fonts in Windows Vista which tend to look cleaner and crisper than those used in Windows XP. This comes at no surprise considering that Windows XP is quite a bit older and that font development has made huge progress in the meantime.

It would probably not be legal to simply download and use those fonts in Windows XP but there is a way to get them on the XP system legally.

The reason why you may want to do that is clear: the font is better which means that text will have a better visibility on the system.

The free Powerpoint Viewer 2007 ships with several Windows Vista system fonts which it installs on the system when you run its installer. What's great about this is that these fonts remain on the system even if you select to uninstall PowerPoint Viewer 2007 from the operating system again.

In theory, you could install the program, make sure the fonts were installed, and remove it again afterwards if you don't require it without losing access to the new fonts.

The cleartype fonts Calibri, Cambria, Candara, Consolas, Constantia and Corbel are installed to the fonts directory of the Windows XP installation when you install PowerPoint Viewer 2007 on the operating system.

You can change the font that Windows is using in the Appearance tab of the Display Properties. Just click on the Advanced button in that menu and select the element that you want to change the font for.

You should see an immediate difference if you select one of the new fonts and have cleartype enabled.

Users who use a custom design have to make sure that the new font does not break the design as it may be wider than the previously used font. You may change the size of the font or switch to another of the new fonts instead to see if it displays better in that case.

Summary
Use Windows Vista fonts in Windows XP
Article Name
Use Windows Vista fonts in Windows XP
Description
Find out how to install new Windows Vista fonts on Windows XP legally.
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Comments

  1. Halley said on December 2, 2012 at 2:48 pm
    Reply

    Awesome website you have here but I was curious if you knew of any
    forums that cover the same topics talked about here? I’d really love to be a part of group where I can get feed-back from other experienced people that share the same interest. If you have any recommendations, please let me know. Appreciate it!

  2. Jigu said on February 19, 2009 at 7:21 am
    Reply

    Shukriya……

  3. Jeroen Roland said on September 27, 2008 at 11:50 pm
    Reply

    Hi this reall better, my mother have computer with Windows Vista, so burn all (windows\fonts on CD-rom , and make a map fonts.001. Than start Windows Setup, recovery module , Sign_ln , type cd windows enter, type reneme fonts fonts.bak reneme fonts.001 fonts
    Do forget to export of Windows Vista this key regeditor HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Fonts
    imported Windows XP.

  4. Andrew Z said on March 30, 2008 at 9:04 pm
    Reply

    Bill, IANAL, but in some cases the Linux or Mac may be the same device as the Windows machine.

  5. Bill said on March 30, 2008 at 7:59 pm
    Reply

    The download for the free PowerPoint Viewer 2007 specifically states this about the fonts: “You may not copy, install or use the fonts on other devices.” For anyone who wants to use the Vista fonts on Macs or Linux systems, licensed versions of the fonts can purchased/downloaded from: http://www.ascendercorp.com/ctfonts.html

  6. Andrew Z said on March 11, 2008 at 8:27 pm
    Reply

    Here is how to install the same fonts in Linux:
    http://www.oooninja.com/2008/01/calibri-linux-vista-fonts-download.html

  7. Ricky Gervais said on March 11, 2008 at 9:04 am
    Reply

    I found a png font sample image with all the listed fonts

    http://blog.html.it/immagini/msnewfonts.png

  8. Sankhya said on March 11, 2008 at 1:12 am
    Reply

    Download “PowerPointViewer.exe”, use 7-Zip or similar to extract it, then extract the .cab file, choose and copy the fonts you like into the Windows Fonts-Directory. That´s all.

  9. Kilman said on March 10, 2008 at 8:20 pm
    Reply

    thanks for your response.
    the problem is more general than this.
    i have the fonts installed and i can use them in Word for example. the thing is that the fonts displayed in the drop down menu form a very minimal list considering the amount of fonts installed on my computer.

  10. Enigma said on March 9, 2008 at 4:45 am
    Reply

    Kilman did you just drag and drop them to the fonts folder? if so you need to uses the install feature from the file drop down or else they do not show up.

  11. Kilman said on March 9, 2008 at 12:18 am
    Reply

    I tried doing this and from some reason the only fonts which are available from the pull down menu are: Arial, Arial Unicode MS, Courier New, Lucida Sans Unicode, Microsoft Sans Serif, Tahoma and Times New Roman. I know the fonts are installed because they appear in the fonts folder.
    Strange…

  12. Enigma said on March 8, 2008 at 8:33 pm
    Reply

    I believe the office 2007 compatibility pack also installs said fonts also.
    http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=941b3470-3ae9-4aee-8f43-c6bb74cd1466&displaylang=en

  13. Martin said on March 8, 2008 at 7:21 pm
    Reply

    Nice Idea, hehe. But you still have to get them from somewhere.

  14. Mr Shaw said on March 8, 2008 at 6:52 pm
    Reply

    Or you can just download and install the fonts and say you did it this way.

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