WHY do fonts look nicer on IE vs Firefox?

Marge Sawtelle asked me the above question. I sent her the directions on  how to fix the issue with Firefox. I thought you might like to know as well. Here's what I sent Marge:

Hi Marge - It's a Windows style that you need to set for other browsers (automatic with IE because it is a Microsoft program).

You can fix it for all programs by choosing Clear Type. Here's what you need to do:

Enable ClearType:
1. Right click on the desktop and choose Properties.
2. Click on the Appearance tab and then choose the Effects button.
3. In the ‘Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts:’ choose ClearType.
4. Check out the results in Firefox.