# Using System Fonts The CSS used for this page is [listed](/css-font-family-test.html#css-used-for-this-page) at the bottom. *currently, verdana is commented out in the custom css for this [page](/css-font-family-test.txt).* testing system fonts. except i start the list with verdana, my current preferred common or safe font. 99% of Mac and Windows systems contain verdana. 70% of unix/linux machines have verdana installed. *'Ubuntu'* would be the system font for my desktop Linux system, which is based upon Ubuntu, but I don't like the font. i comment out verdana for testing on other devices. > **mar 2, 2017 update:** i don't remember where i found the above info. maybe i culled the stats from links below. verdana is not considered a safe font because unix systems do not contain it by default. my desktop linux system (mint, ubuntu) did not contain verdana. i had to install a font package that contained verdana. maybe verdana is not a safe font because 30% of nix systems are without verdana. [web.mit.edu - Safe web fonts](http://web.mit.edu/jmorzins/www/fonts.html) > **another mar 2, 2017 update:** found the verdana stats [here](https://www.granneman.com/webdev/coding/css/fonts-and-formatting/default-fonts#verdana) When viewing this page on my Chromebook, the system font used is Roboto. That's according Chrome's Inspector: `ctrl + shift + i` and then select `Computed` tab and then view the bottom right window pane, which is called `Rendered Font's` and it showed `Roboto -- Local file (358 glyphs)` When I comment out Roboto from the custom, inline CSS used for this page, and while still viewing on my Chromebook, the inspector said that the font used was Arimo, which is not listed in my CSS. Arimo looks similar Arial Grotesque. [Arimo is a Google font](https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Arimo) > Arimo was designed by Steve Matteson as an innovative, refreshing sans serif design that is metrically compatible with Arial™. Arimo offers improved on-screen readability characteristics and the pan-European WGL character set and solves the needs of developers looking for width-compatible fonts to address document portability across platforms. In my CSS list, Helvetica is listed near the bottom. When Helvetica is chosen, the Chromebook uses Arimo. * [Default Fonts](https://www.granneman.com/webdev/coding/css/fonts-and-formatting/default-fonts) * [Ubuntu Font Family](http://font.ubuntu.com) * [Web fonts, boy, I don't know](http://meowni.ca/posts/web-fonts) * [HN thread](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12865998) * [A story of a 25-year-old font coming back with a vengeance](https://medium.design/system-shock-6b1dc6d6596f) * [Using System UI Fonts In Web Design](https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2015/11/using-system-ui-fonts-practical-guide) * [Font Families](https://www.w3.org/Style/Examples/007/fonts.en.html) * [I Left My System Fonts in San Francisco](http://furbo.org/2015/07/09/i-left-my-system-fonts-in-san-francisco) From the story about an old font coming back, I wish this existed now: > Eventually, in the future, if other browsers implement the feature, a simple font-family: system will take care of everything ... 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It uses a dictionary of over 200 Latin words, combined with a handful of model sentence structures, to generate Lorem Ipsum which looks reasonable. The generated Lorem Ipsum is therefore always free from repetition, injected humour, or non-characteristic words etc. ### CSS used for this page body { font-size: 21px; color: #222; font-family: /* Verdana, */ -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "San Francisco", "Roboto", "Oxygen", "Segoe UI", "Ubuntu", "Cantarell", "Fira Sans", "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", "Lucida Grande", "Helvetica", sans-serif; } ### April 2017 I liked the font setup for this site: . After viewing the CSS, I saw that the author used system fonts. html{font-family:-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,"Segoe UI","Roboto","Oxygen","Ubuntu","Cantarell","Fira Sans","Droid Sans","Helvetica Neue",Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;line-height:1.5}