Segoe


Segoe is a typeface, or family of fonts, that is best known for its use by Microsoft. The company uses Segoe in its online and printed marketing materials, including recent logos for a number of products. Additionally, the Segoe UI font sub-family is used by numerous Microsoft applications, and may be installed by applications. It was adopted as Microsoft's default operating system font beginning with Windows Vista, and is also used on outlook.com, Microsoft's web-based email service. In August 2012, Microsoft unveiled its new corporate logo typeset in Segoe, replacing the logo it had used for the previous 25 years.
The Segoe name is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation, although the typeface was originally developed by Monotype.

History

Segoe was designed by Steve Matteson during his employment at Agfa Monotype. Licensed to Microsoft for use as a branding typeface and user interface font, it was designed to be friendly and legible. Matteson created a range of weights and italics with a humanist feel.

Licensing controversy

In 2004, Microsoft registered certain Segoe and Segoe Italic fonts as original font designs with the European Union trademark and design office. The German font foundry Linotype protested, citing Segoe UI's similarity to its licensed Frutiger family of typefaces. In its submission to the EU, Microsoft claimed that Linotype had failed to prove that it had been selling Frutiger and Frutiger Next prior to 2004.
The EU rejected these claims, and in February 2006 the EU revoked Microsoft's registration. Microsoft did not appeal the decision. Microsoft still holds United States design patents to various Segoe-based fonts.
During the same period, in late 2004, after six years under the Agfa Corporation, the Monotype assets were acquired by TA Associates and the company was incorporated as Monotype Imaging. Later, in August 2006, Monotype Imaging acquired Linotype. So at the end of 2006, Linotype, the company that had challenged the validity of Microsoft's Segoe patents, was a wholly owned subsidiary of Monotype, the company that had originally licensed Segoe to Microsoft.
Several letters have distinctly different forms in Segoe UI and Frutiger, reflecting Segoe UI's different intended use: low-resolution screen display, rather than airport signage. However, Ulrich Stiehl asserts that many of these differences were introduced in later versions of Segoe UI - earlier versions of Segoe UI were closer to Frutiger.
On June 7, 2005, Scala, an electronic signage company, announced that Segoe was being removed from its InfoChannel product "due to licensing issues". Scala replaced Segoe with Bitstream Vera fonts.
In November 2005, Simon Daniels, a program manager in Microsoft's typography group, stated that "The original Segoe fonts were not created for or by Microsoft. It was an existing Monotype design which we licensed and extensively extended and customized to meet the requirements of different processes, apps and devices."
In April 2006, a Microsoft public relations spokesperson, who asked not to be named, stated:
Segoe was an original design developed by Agfa Monotype in 2000. In 2003, we acquired the original Segoe fonts and used them to develop an extended family of fonts retaining the Segoe name. Many of these new fonts received design patent protection in the United States. Segoe was not derived from Frutiger. Microsoft also has a current up-to-date license that allows us to distribute certain Frutiger fonts in connection with Microsoft products including Office and Windows. There are distinct differences between Segoe and Frutiger. Additionally, unlike clone typefaces, the Segoe family of fonts are not metrically compatible with Frutiger so cannot be used as replacements.

Under United States copyright law, the abstract letter shapes of functional text fonts cannot be copyrighted; only the computer programming code in a font is given copyright protection. This makes the production and distribution of clone fonts possible.
An early version of Segoe, possibly an evaluation version, was included with certain versions of SuSE Linux, but no longer ships as part of that operating system.

Segoe UI

Segoe UI is a member of the Segoe family used in Microsoft products for user interface text, as well as for some online user assistance material, intended to improve the consistency in how users see all text across all languages. It is distinguishable from its predecessor Tahoma and the OS X user interface font Lucida Grande by its rounder letters. Segoe UI was produced by Monotype Imaging.
Light and Semibold versions of Segoe UI were introduced with Windows 7.
In Windows 8, 8.1 and 10, Segoe UI has undergone a number of changes and stylistic additions:
In Windows 8.1 Segoe UI gained Black and Black Italic weights, but only for Latin, Greek and Cyrillic scripts.

Characteristics

Segoe UI is optimized for Vista's default ClearType rendering environment, and it is significantly less legible when ClearType is disabled, except at key user interface sizes where Segoe UI has been hinted for bi-level rendering. The standard font size increased to 9 point in Windows Vista to accommodate for better layout and readability for all languages.
The Windows Vista version of Segoe UI contains complete Unicode 4.1 coverage for Latin, Greek, Cyrillic and Arabic, totaling 2843 glyphs in the regular weight.
Segoe UI has a true cursive italic, unlike the oblique used in Frutiger and Helvetica.

Variations

Other members of the Segoe family include:
At one time, Microsoft also posted a package called Print Ad for Microsoft Dynamics Business Management Solutions Brief Description to the Microsoft downloads center. The package included TrueType and PostScript Type 1 beta versions of the Segoe branding fonts along with PowerPoint templates and marketing material.
Windows Phones also include a more customised version called Segoe WP N which is designed with more clarity and narrow to enhance their take on ClearType.
Microsoft released Selawik as a metric-compatible Segoe UI replacement, and Symbols as a Segoe UI Symbols and Segoe MDL2 Assets fallback, under SIL OFL in 2015. These fonts are used in WinJS and Winstrap. Selawik is also one of Microsoft's recommended fonts for Universal Windows Platform apps.
The Latin glyphs from Segoe and Segoe UI can also be found in the following Microsoft font families: Malgun Gothic, Microsoft JhengHei, Microsoft YaHei, Gisha, Leelawadee. In Windows 7, they are also found in Ebrima, Khmer UI, Lao UI, Microsoft New Tai Lue, Microsoft PhagsPa, Microsoft Tai Le.
In these fonts some of the glyph shapes diverge significantly from Segoe UI and the Frutiger/Myriad model and are in some ways more calligraphic. In Gisha and Leelawadee the capital M is narrower and has a raised apex, the lowercase i and l have tails, and the capital I has no serifs. These characteristics are also seen in Segoe UI italic.