I have been using Firefox as a debugger for a while already. But I have been using Internet Explorer 7 to browse the web, only for the reason that I have been using it. I was lazy to switch the browser until lately.

But now, it got the point that IE seemed too slow. I guessed that Firefox was faster, so I made the switch eventually.

The speed of Firefox is OK, though it's not much faster than IE, at least it's not slower than it. The problem with Firefox, especially using Japanese, is that the default font is not pretty. The reason is that, while Microsoft (Japanese) fonts are true type fonts, it is known that a true type font looks ugly when the size is smaller than 12 points or so. Microsoft is preventing this by embedding a set of bit map data for the smaller size. Don't know why, but Firefox doesn't use the bit map portion of the font.

So, I needed to change the font to something that looks better. A google search indicated that setting Meiryo font solve the problem.

Not just the content of the page, but also the menu and bookmarks use the same font, and switching the font to Meiryo in Firefox makes great improvement on the browser's looking.

Obtaining Meiryo Font

Initially Meiryo was available only for Vista, but now Microsoft is distributing the font for XP users from here

Configuring Clear Type

The link below shows how to use Clear Type on Windows XP.
http://samanathon.com/love-cleartype-in-ie7-use-it-in-firefox-and-everyw...

Setting Meiryo as default font in Firefox

Choose [Tools], then [Options...]. On Content tab, set Meiryo at Fonts&Colors setting. You may want to set it in Advancec... as well.