# MS Fonts

Related articles

- Fonts
- Font configuration
- Java Runtime Environment Fonts

Installing TrueType Microsoft fonts and emulating Windows' font rendering.

## Installation

### Using fonts from a Windows partition

Let's say you have a Windows partition mounted as `/windows`. You can use its fonts by linking to them like so:

    # ln -s /windows/Windows/Fonts /usr/share/fonts/WindowsFonts

Then regenerate the fontconfig cache:

    # fc-cache

### Current packages

Note: These packages do require access to a Windows 7/8 and/or a Office 2007 setup or installation media, consult corresponding PKGBUILD for details.

Available in the AUR:

- ttf-win7-fonts — Windows 7 fonts
- ttf-office-2007-fonts — Microsoft Office 2007 fonts
- ttf-ms-win8 — Windows 8.1 fonts

### Legacy packages

Note: The fonts provided by these packages are out-of-date and are missing modern hinting instructions and the full character sets. It is recommended to use the above packages.

ttf-ms-fonts is available in the AUR.

According to original Microsoft's End User License Agreement, there are some legal limitations when using the fonts.

The package includes:

- Andalé Mono
- Arial
- Arial Black
- Comic Sans
- Courier New
- Georgia
- Impact
- Lucida Sans
- Lucida Console
- Microsoft Sans Serif
- Symbol
- Times New Roman
- Trebuchet
- Verdana
- Webdings
- Wingdings

You can also obtain ttf-tahoma or ttf-microsoft-tahoma from the AUR, which as you might expect contains Tahoma.

ttf-vista-fonts is also available in the AUR and includes:

- Calibri
- Cambria
- Candara
- Consolas
- Constantia
- Corbel

## Fontconfig rules useful for MS Fonts

Often websites specify the fonts using generic names (helvetica, courier, times or times new roman) a rule in fontconfig replaces this fonts with (ugly) free fonts:

    /etc/fonts/conf.d/30-metric-aliases.conf

to make full use of the MS fonts it is necessary to create a rule mapping those generic names to MS specific fonts contained in the various packages above:

    <?xml version="1.0"?>
    <!DOCTYPE fontconfig SYSTEM "fonts.dtd">
    <fontconfig>
           <alias binding="same">
             <family>Helvetica</family>
             <accept>
             <family>Arial</family>
             </accept>
           </alias>
           <alias binding="same">
             <family>Times</family>
             <accept>
             <family>Times New Roman</family>
             </accept>
           </alias>
           <alias binding="same">
             <family>Courier</family>
             <accept>
             <family>Courier New</family>
             </accept>
           </alias>
    </fontconfig>

It is also useful to associate serif,sans-serif,monospace fonts in your favourite browser to MS fonts.

## Sharp fonts resembling Windows XP

A complete guide on how to make the MS Fonts look as in Windows XP is found at http://www.sharpfonts.co.cc/ (site down, try sharpfonts in the AUR). In short, install the fonts as described above and use the author's modified XML files.

## Smooth fonts resembling Windows 7

Use Infinality's patched freetype2 package, and use the Windows 7 profile in the provided `local.conf`.

Categories:

- Fonts
- Graphics and desktop publishing