what happens if....

I specify a particular typeface and no alternative?

[microcars]

such as "Comic Sans MS"

if someone pulls up this page and does NOT have this font installed on their system, what do they see?

a blank page?

some other "default" font?

I can't figure out a way to test this on my own.

[Bonusbana]

I would say it displays the browsers default font, as if you didnt specify one at all. Most browsers have times or times new roman, while f.ex safari uses georgia.

[edit_g]

Remeber that Comic Sans MS has been known to cause instant disdain among most designers. Not putting the font down, but it is the subject of many a web design joke.

[benihana]

yep it will use the default, which is usually a serif font.

in this case you might want to specify

"Comic Sans MS", sans-serif

so at least you will get a sans-serif.

[aus_dave]

edit_g, I'll go the whole hog and say Comic Sans is a disgrace to typography :).

For a laugh check out this site : [bancomicsans.com...]

[jusdrum]

I'm totally taking this thread on a tangent, but I actually had a chance to use comic sans for its intended purpose. I did some maintenance work on "Comic Book the Movie".

Although, I still felt funny actually selecting the face.

[Bonusbana]

Comic sans is a joke, yes, but all things have its useful place [csszengarden.com].

Its like colors, who would actually use pink and brown together 10 years ago? Tody its the trademark of a "hot designer who dares to break traditions". Some day you'll see comic sans all over the elit designer creations. Today a joke, tomorrow a trend.

[Macguru]

err, what was the original topic again? ;-)

[whoisgregg]

I still remember the day I saw a place named "Hobo Barbeque" and the name was painted on the building in, you guessed it, the Hobo font. :)

And the answer to the question is it displays in the default font. Most browsers default is Times but I have seen people fax in a page from my site and they overrode all font settings to be Zapf Chancery. I didn't even recognize my own page. :)