Making things look bigger (internet pages)

[MikeT]

I just set up my dads 17" imac. He had an old PC with a 17" monitor and he commented on the following noticeable difference. He says that when he opens a website that where it looked bigger on his old PC, everything looks smaller with large blank bars on the side of his screen on the imac. Is there something that I can change to make the image a little bigger? Maybe screen resolution or something?

Also, if I can change the screen resolution to make most things bigger, is there a way then to make the scrolling ribbon bar of icons on the bottom of the mac screen a little smaller so they take up less space? I figure if I have the icon magnification set to "on" that will make up for it.

Thanks!

BTW, He is using FIREFOX.

 

[bobtomay]

As an old windows user, I also like to have my browser in full screen so that any web sites set up to be able to accomodate it can use all my real estate. I use Opera. Most that do not like Safari use Firefox. He should probably give them both a try.

Also, you would not change the resolution. In Safari you would go to the Menu at the top, View and click on Make Text bigger or press the Apple and + keys to increase text size
Opera has much more advanced options for this under the same View menu.

 

[MikeT]

Hey, I just tried it on my PC and that works really nice! I think he will like that. I am going over there later today and I will set that up for him. Cool!

 

[Alexis]

You're using a widescreen now, so you're going to get bars on either side on websites, whether you're on PC or Mac.

 

[bobtomay]

You're using a widescreen now, so you're going to get bars on either side on websites, whether you're on PC or Mac.

Not necessarily true. It depends on the site and how the code was written. This forum and many other sites have the ability to take full advantage of our widescreens. Just try it out even in Safari with this forum. Try maximizing Safari, see what you get, then drag the corner to fill the entire width of the screen and you'll find this forum is quite capable of using the full screen.

Experiment a little and you'll soon see how much more of the page will fit on the screen also. This also means much less scrolling required. There are a great many sites that can take advantage of this, newegg and amazon to name but a couple besides this forum. Most of the sites that don't automatically adjust are still set up to display at a default 800x600. How many people even use this resoution any longer? The ones still running Win98 and Win ME? IMHO, these other sites should get with the program and move into the modern age.