Here’s the new default font for Microsoft Outlook and Word: Aptos

Published

2 years ago

July 13, 2023

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Goodbye, Calibri.

Microsoft has named the next default font for its productivity applications, such as Word and Outlook, after testing five candidates it introduced in 2021. Since then, it’s been called Bierstadt. Now it’s getting a new name: Aptos.

The move amounts to a subtle refinement for some of the most popular software in the world. Microsoft doesn’t take such steps lightly, because its Office products fetch almost 24% of its revenue. They’re growing faster than other parts of the business, such as video game content and search advertising, as Microsoft seeks to line up more end users and get existing clients to spend more.

If the core applications look fresh, Microsoft can make a better argument when the time comes to renew subscriptions to Microsoft 365, formerly known as Office 365. The company is now ready to do that, after accepting input from end users about the five new fonts.

“Today we begin the final phase of this major change where Aptos will start appearing as the new default font across Word, Outlook, PowerPoint and Excel for hundreds of millions of users,” Si Daniels, principal program manager for Office design at Microsoft, wrote in a blog post published Thursday. “And, over the next few months it will roll out to be the default for all our customers.”

Aptos will remain available in the font list under the old Bierstadt name for people who are accustomed to it. Users can also choose to set any other font as the default. That includes older standards, such as Times New Roman, Arial or even Calibri, which has been the default since 2007, before the launch of Office 365 in 2011. Many people perceive Microsoft as a friendlier place since Satya Nadella replaced Steve Ballmer as its CEO in 2014, but that updated identity isn’t necessarily reflected when someone starts writing an email in Outlook with a font that predates Nadella.

In 2019, Microsoft asked font designer Steve Matteson to develop a font in the grotesque sans-serif style that includes the classic Helvetica. The company didn’t let on that it was considering it as a possible successor for Calibri, Matteson said in an interview with CNBC this week.

At the time, Matteson was still working for the font company Monotype, and he and his colleagues gave Microsoft four or five proposals to look at, without including the names of the contributors. That’s important because the designers didn’t want his connection to Microsoft to influence the software maker’s decision, he said.

Matteson’s work with Microsoft goes back to the 1990s. He helped with Microsoft’s TrueType fonts for Windows 3.1 and created the Segoe font Microsoft uses for its current logo and marketing materials. He also contributed to the aptly named font Curlz. That was not his proudest moment, he said.

Of the bunch that Matteson and his colleagues sent to Microsoft, they picked his, which at that point was dubbed simply Grotesque No. 2. Then Microsoft gave it a codename, Koyuk. Then he came up with the name Bierstadt, taking the name of a mountain in Colorado, where he lives. In German, Bierstadt means “beer city.”

Some people didn’t take the name seriously and Microsoft decided to come up with a new one for the font, Matteson said. Aptos, an unincorporated town in Santa Cruz County, California, came to his mind.

“Aptos has this unique coastal climate, where it’s a beach, and all the way up to the redwoods,” he said. “It’s what I loved about California is the diversity, and it kind of told me that there’s all these different moods and experiences you can have. Similarly, with Aptos, you have all these different voices you can speak in without distorting the message.”

Matteson came up with a serif version of the font, along with a monospace version that can work for typing out code. He’s worked on monetary symbols and support for Greek and Cyrillic languages. He collaborated with Microsoft to ensure it will work well in different scenarios. If one were to convert cells in an Excel spreadsheet from Calibri to Aptos, it’s unlikely that numbers in a cell will overflow into the one next to it, he said.

He hasn’t seen every response to the font. But he has observed people saying that in Bierstadt, a lowercase L and a capital I can’t be mistaken for each other.

Still, Matteson has nothing but respect for Calibri and its creator, Lucas de Groot.

“I can understand Microsoft wanting to, you know, make a change, but I don’t think there’s ever been anything wrong with Calibri,” he said.

WATCH: Satya Nadella reflects on his nine years of leading Microsoft

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Lyft shares sink 6% on underwhelming fourth-quarter results

Published

3 hours ago

February 12, 2025

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Lyft shares sink 6% on underwhelming fourth-quarter results

Cheng Xin | Getty Images

Lyft shares shed about 6% after the ride-sharing app reported lackluster fourth-quarter results and offered weak bookings guidance as it lowers prices to keep up with competition.

The company reported revenues of $1.55 billion, versus the $1.56 billion expected by analysts polled by LSEG. Revenues grew 27% from $1.22 billion a year ago. Bookings, which measures the charges posed to customers for rides and services, came in at $4.28 billion, behind a $4.32 billion FactSet estimate.

“I think what the future holds is great, because it’s a huge market, and we’re doing a great job,” CEO David Risher told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday. “We got to figure out how to get the traders on the bus.”

The company did beat expectations on fourth-quarter earnings, reporting an adjusted 29 cents per share compared to the LSEG expectation of 22 cents per share. The figure excluded certain amortization and compensation charges, and a gain from terminating a lease.

Lyft also said it anticipates a slowdown in gross bookings as it grapples with a lower pricing environment. The company expects bookings to range between $4.05 billion and $4.20 billion, versus a $4.24 billion FactSet forecast.

Neuralink competitor Paradromics secures investment from Saudi Arabia’s Neom

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5 hours ago

February 12, 2025

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Neuralink competitor Paradromics secures investment from Saudi Arabia's Neom

Paradromics scientists at work

Source: Paradromics

Texas-based neurotech startup Paradromics on Wednesday announced a strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Neom and said it will establish a Brain-Computer Interface Center of Excellence in the region.

Neom is a developing area within northwest Saudi Arabia that’s touted as “a hub for innovation,” according to its website. The area’s strategic investment arm, the Neom Investment Fund, led the partnership. Paradromics declined to disclose the investment amount.

Paradromics is building a brain-computer interface, or a BCI, which is a system that deciphers brain signals and translates them into commands for external technologies. The company will work with Neom to “advance the development of BCI-based therapies” and set up the “premier center for BCI-based healthcare” in the Middle East and North Africa, it said in a release.

“Working together, we can accelerate the rate of innovation in BCI and expand access to impactful BCI-based therapies.” Paradromics CEO Matt Angle said in a statement.

Apple launches first major health study in 5 years. Here’s how you can opt in

Published

5 hours ago

February 12, 2025

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Apple CEO Tim Cook delivers remarks before the start of an Apple event at the Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California, on Sept. 9, 2024.

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Apple is deepening its investment in health-care research by launching a new, years-long project called the Apple Health Study, the company announced on Wednesday.

The study will analyze how data from devices like iPhones, AirPods and Apple Watches can monitor, manage and predict changes in users’ health. It will also explore connections between different components of health, like how mental health affects heart rate, for instance.

The Apple Health Study is the first major health research project the company has announced since it unveiled the Apple Women’s Health Study, the Apple Hearing Study and the Apple Heart and Movement Study in 2019. Those projects are ongoing, and they’ve inspired many of the health features that Apple has introduced in recent years.

Apple rolled out a hearing test in the fall, for instance, which was developed using insights from the Apple Hearing Study, the company said.

The new study will likely influence future product development. Apple CEO Tim Cook previously said he believes health features will be the company’s “most important contribution to mankind.”