If you have always feel that the font in Ubuntu looks strange and ugly, it is because the font smoothing option is not turned on by default.
To get a nice smooth font in your Ubuntu Hardy, do the following:
In the terminal, type:
sudo ln -sf /etc/fonts/conf.avail/10-autohint.conf /etc/fonts/conf.d/
Once it is done, log out and log in again. You should see a noticeable change in the font.
The font before smoothing
The font after smoothing
[via Ubuntu forum]
