iMac (Mid 2007): Some fonts may appear incorrectly rendered

Issue or symptom

You may notice slight rendering differences with some fonts on iMac (Mid 2007) computers running Mac OS X 10.4.10. Text may appear offset or left-justified in applications such as iPhoto or in some Dashboard widgets. In some cases, the font may appear less smooth.

Solution

To address the issue:

  1. Log in with an administrator account (or a user account that allows you to install software, make changes, and so on).
  2. Open the Terminal application from Applications/Utilities.
  3. Cut-and-paste (or carefully type) the following text at the prompt:
    sudo rm -r /Library/Caches/com.apple.ATS
  4. Press the 'Enter' key.
  5. When prompted for your password, enter the password you use to login (or install software) and press the 'Enter' key again.
  6. Close the Terminal application and restart the computer. The fonts should now look properly rendered.
Published Date: Feb 20, 2012