Farewell Calibri! Microsoft will change the default font in Office for the first time in 16 years (3 photos)

The Calibri font in Microsoft Office was insultingly called "default" and sent to rest. It is being replaced by Aptos, developed by Steve Matteson, creator of Segoe and TrueType.





Microsoft announced that for the first time since 2007 they changed the font by default in the office suite - instead of Calibri, Aptos became it, humanistic sans serif inspired by the Swiss typography of the middle XX century. Aptos was originally known as Bierstadt and among five proposed candidates (in addition to Aptos, they were Grandview, Seaford, Skeena and Tenorite, which will also be available as part of package) was chosen back in 2021.



Aptos was developed by lead font designer Steve Matteson (Steve Matteson). Previously, he created Segoe, which became the default font in Windows. The Segoe UI subfamily debuted in Windows Vista and continues to be used in Windows 11. Matteson also worked on the initial Windows TrueType kit. On his initiative, Bierstadt was renamed Aptos is named after the town of Aptos in Santa Cruz County, California. The edges the lines of the Aptos letters are clearly chopped off, but a slight softening is left, which enhances readability, and this is noticeable at small sizes.



Aptos was chosen by users by voting initiated by Microsoft.

The fathers of the new font made a statement about this:

Today we begin the final phase of big change when Aptos will start showing up as the new default font in Word, Outlook, PowerPoint and Excel for hundreds of millions of users. And in over the coming months it will become the default font for all of our clients.

Aptos will replace Calibri as the default font by default, but Calibri will remain pinned to the top of the selection menu font along with its predecessors - Times New Roman and Arial. Calibri became the default font with the release of Microsoft Office 2007, replacing Times New Roman.

Aptos will also be available under its original Bierstadt name on the menu.