Microsoft

Software company that commissioned screen typefaces such as Verdana and Georgia (1996) and gave them away as Core fonts for the Web.

Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft to write software for personal computers, and the MS-DOS and Windows operating systems became the standard. With Windows came typefaces that affected how the whole world reads on screen.

Microsoft commissioned Verdana and Georgia from Matthew Carter, with Tom Rickner doing the hinting, so that the typefaces would be legible on low-resolution screens. Later came Segoe and Calibri, which became the standard in Office.

Microsoft’s copyright notice in the font file.

• Typography