Ubuntu vs Windows Screen Resolution

[adit_sen]

One problem (if it can be called a problem) I've noticed in linux systems I've tried out on my computer (Ubuntu / Fedora), is that even though they all run on 1024x768 screen resolution, I seem to be getting more 'viewing area' in Windows running the same resolution!!

To explain what I mean, say for example I go to the Yahoo Mail site (using Firefox in both / same themes/ same extentions). In windows, the entire yahoo mail login screen fits on the screen, without me having to scroll down to view the rest of the page. But in linux (ubuntu), I have to scroll down to see the entire contents of the page!
And its not just web browsing. Say I open a document in open office. The number of lines per page displayed in Windows is much greater than Ubuntu!!

I had initially thought that its maybe because of the system wide fonts in Ubuntu are larger than my windows fonts. But even after I set the same font in both, same size, the Windows 'viewing area' is much greater than Ubuntu.

Any fixes?

[mediator]

It seems ur windows runs on 1280*800 resolution!

[adit_sen]

No it doesn't. I have a laptop and the maximum supported screen resolution is 1024x768

[Zeeshan Quireshi]

yeah , happens with me too , at 1024 x 768 windows feels morespacious , whereas Ubuntu doesn't , i thikn it's because of the default icon size in linux , most distro's have icon size set to 48 x 48 , n small icno size set to 24 x 24 , whereas in windows it's 32 x 32 and 16 x 16 respectively

[JGuru]

@Adit_Sen, This happens. Even though you use the same fonts & size in Windows
& Ubuntu Linux or any Linux. Remember the rendering of fonts vary from platform
to platform, even though you use the same font & size!! I have faced this problem
in Java Swing Programming - executing the same program , looks different in Windows
& Linux!!

[adit_sen]

ah...but just as zeeshan said...working in windows just "feels more spacious"....i wish we could manage it in ubuntu too...

[eddie]

This is not a problem of font size. It is a problem with DPI or Dots Per Inch.

Run this command in a terminal window and check the results

xdpyinfo | grep reso

The perfect response should be

  resolution:    96x96 dots per inch

Anything more than 96 dpi like 100x100 or 120x120 etc. will make everything appear bigger on your screen thus giving you a feeling of fullness. Similarly anything below 96 dpi makes everything look smaller i.e. "more spacious". Usually Windows runs at 96dpi but a lot of users run it at 75dpi as well. You can check your Windows dpi by going in display settings --> settings --> advanced --> monitor.

The recommended display settings for most of the monitors is 96 dpi as the fonts not only look better in this setting but it also keeps them at optimal size. To get this DPI (if you do not have it already), you need to manually mention an option in your xorg.conf file which is known as DisplaySize. It is to be mentioned under the Monitor section just before "EndSection". DisplaySize is written by measuring width and height of your monitor's viewable area. A few common DisplaySize options depending on the resolution you might be running are

    DisplaySize 304.2 228.6 # 1152x864 96dpi
    # DisplaySize 270 203 # 1024x768 96dpi
    # DisplaySize 338 254 # 1280x960 96dpi
    # DisplaySize 338 270 # 1280x1024 96dpi
    # DisplaySize 370 277 # 1400x1050 96dpi
    # DisplaySize 423 370 # 1600x1400 96dpi

You need to uncomment one line depending upon the resolution you are running. For example: I am running 1152x864, thus I have uncommented the first line. If you run 1280x1024, then just comment out the 1152x864 line and uncomment your relevant one. Log out of X session, press Ctrl+Alt+Backspace to restart X and then re-login. Then again run the xdpyinfo command I mentioned earlier and check the dpi. If you are using the same fonts as Windows then you should surely see the difference