IE 7 and ClearType hoses Web Design

So I've been testing out some layouts using IE7 and I'm very disturbed by one thing.

IE uses ClearType by default, ignoring your system wide settings. ClearType is a decent piece of technology that uses sub-pixel anti-aliasing for fonts.

With Serif'ed fonts, however, it makes them look bold, blurry, and gives you a headache. Of course, if you know anything about design, you know that Serif'ed fonts like Times New Roman are to be used for article text.

Here I go again with my... "It's just another system by the man to keep a brotha down".

There is a reason for this major change. This change will be seen as a benefit by a large percentage of users, especially because the technology really does make sans-serif fonts appear more clearly. It's another instance of "change standards so people will use MS technology".

As a large webmaster, you can go ahead and tell your users how to turn off ClearType, but as a little guy, you are essentially forced to make your article text visible in a sans-serif font if you want your users to have similar experiences in Firefox and IE.

It's a tragedy to have to design around cleartype.