Update your Flash Player v15.0.0.189 http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web link} While you are in safe mode;

Type about:preferences#advanced<Enter> in the address bar.

Under Advanced, Select General. Look for and turn off Use Hardware Acceleration.

Poke around safe web sites. Are there any problems?

Then restart.

Hi, Fred, and thanks for the quick response. I did what you suggested but the problem remains. I've attached a screenshot with IE9 on the left and Firefox 33 on the right. Not only is the Firefox rendering of the font 'wispy,' but the window background color (specified in Vista Personalizations) doesn't apply in Firefox either.

I can mitigate the problem somewhat by kicking Firefox's zoom up to 120%, but it's not a fix. I'm stymied.

Hey, I found it... and fixed it! Windows has some feature called Clear Type Technology. Their description is a bit vague; evidently it's some sort of liaison between Windows and the graphics card controller. Someone on another forum mentioned Clear Type in connection with an unrelated problem, so in desperation I followed his instructions and found the 'secret switch.' Sure enough, it was turned 'off' (a 'standard' setting, actually), and once I turned it on everything now looks just the way it did a few days ago. My K&E 'Drafting Table Green' still doesn't come through with Firefox, but that's okay; at least I can read the text now.

Make sure that you haven't enabled a High Contrast theme in the Windows/Mac Accessibility settings.

• http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/make-the-computer-easier-to-see-optimize-visual-display

Make sure that you allow pages to choose their own colors.

• Tools > Options > Content : Fonts & Colors > Colors : [X] "Allow pages to choose their own colors, instead of my selections above"

Note that these settings affect background images.

See also:

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Website_colors_are_wrong

If there are still rendering issues then try to disable OMTC and leave hardware acceleration in Firefox enabled.

• about:config page: layers.offmainthreadcomposition.enabled = false

Electrojim that was good work. Can you post the link to that article?

Hey, Fred;

Again, the article I found involved a different OS and a different problem, but it did lead me to investigate the Clear Type function: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-windows_programs/how-to-disable-the-clear-type-technology-feature/01432c94-7237-4224-8e6a-8218d129c9b4?auth=1

Thank you. Have a good day.