Win 7 desktop icon text quality appalling

Hi.
Just converted from XP to 7 but the basics of the desktop icons are a shambles.
Win XP for desktop icon text has sharp white text with a subtle grey drop-shadow.
Win 7 has each text character with a black edge and the text is varying between white and shades of green as a result, like you get on the edge of objects in photos from cheap cameras, with a dark drop shadow. The whole thing is poor and soft to read and makes my expensive monitor look like a pile of junk.
Its bad on the eyes. I have never seen such poor icon text and have had OS's dating back to win95.

Win 7 very much at fault here. Progress its not, stoneage it is. Wish I had XP back !

What is the fix ?

It would appear to be Clear Type text which when I untick it , makes for something matching XP however it wont let you exit there, there is a next and a next etc etc and even just selecting next without selecting any choices now sees the text in this forum window for example have lost its former decent thickness and its now poor to read, the favourites text has gone from black to something black with green flavouring. Its messed up the rest of my PC but fixed the desktop.

How can one untick ClearText and not have to then progress through that wizard, and keep everything else ok ?

I have prior to this tried for the windows and pause key> advanced system settings> performance settings route, unticking drop shadow and nothing happens, add to that untick enable desktop composition and text is now fine, BUT has no subtle light grey drop shadow and doesnt show up on light areas.

Tried for instead untick drop shadow and untick smooth font edge and text is again fine but this also messes up text in MS word and other progs and the WWW.

Desperate to get rid of this mess and look at decent text. Someone at Msoft have meddled with this when they should have left it alone as XP which was perfect and high quality.

What it needs is the black edging to each text character removing and a subtle grey drop shadow adding. Unticking ClearType does that but then wrecks all else.

How is this done ?

DBenz

WinXP did have a Clear Text setting and just as with later versions of Windows it is aimed at those users with LCD or LED monitors, didn't need it on CRT and CRT Flat Screen monitors. There's a setting to check or uncheck in the Display settings that allows Themes to change things, might check that out.

Yes graphics drivers are up to date.

Windows Classic mode gives me back the decent text on a plain colour but add in a background image and the drop shadows are back and too dark. I am also seeing greenish text in some places. Win7

Also the greys are yellowy grey, there is no option for Windows Standard color theme unlike there was in XP and all OS's before to get neutral greys which I have used since win3.1 ....another thread on this.

DBenz