Have you tried Source Code Pro (http://adobe-fonts.github.io/source-code-pro/)? It's my go-to now when it comes to monospace fonts. I keep it installed on all my systems, right along side my dotfiles.
Does it show more lines than consolas in the editor? I just measured Hack with Consolas (9pt) in VS.NET, and Hack shows 54 lines, Consolas 65 (and for reference, lucida console 131). The page you linked to shows the typeface, which is nice, but it's hard to measure whether it's a font that's going to lead to more lines or less lines in the editor.
I switched from Consolas to Source Code Pro after I switched to a 4k monitor. On a 1080p display, I think I still prefer Consolas, but Source Code Pro is absolutely beautiful on a high-dpi screen.
I'm particularly fond of semi-bold. I find light is too narrow for my vision and taste. After a while of using the light version, it starts to blur together, but semibold works well. But my wife uses light and regular on her high DPI Lenovo.
For a complete change of style it might be worth having a look at fonts designed assisting those with dyslexia. Designed for uniqueness of glyphs and for minimising eye strain.
I've used them for several years ( even though I'm not dyslexic ) and now find 'normal' terminal fonts to be extremely harsh on the eye. Probably the best change I've ever made to my programming environment.
Despite having a different proposition and use-case, FE-Schrift seems have ended up with a similar yet much more aesthetically pleasing outcome. It doesn't have lower-case, which is a deal breaker for programming at least though.
Dina used to be my go-to font as well but a few years ago I switched to Anonymous Pro [1] as it tends to be more recognizable at the small font sizes which I use.
That's a strange feeling, huh? It's similar to how we always want more (money, vacation, etc.) in life, but when we get there we just want more again. I've had the thought about Consolas many times; "Why do I keep looking for a new one when I like Consolas?". I think the answer is that we always seek novelty, because that drives evolution.
A change in environment boosts productivity, doesn't it? I read somewhere, maybe in Peopleware, that in a lighting study, they found any change (brighter, darker) to a workplace imported productivity. The idea being that it was just the change, not really mattering what was changed.
Perhaps it reflects poorly on me, but I love novelty. Different places, new software, new languages (or improved features) - it's great. I'll get a huge boost working on a shitty desk in a cold hotel, for a week. I started learning Ruby, and while I find it revolting in a way (it's like the opposite of elegance), I'm enjoying learning it.
This must be a well known effect, as MS seems to make small but very noticeable cosmetic changes to their UIs. I feel ... something when using the older version. Something slightly beneath my conscious perception, something that changes and feels fresh when I upgrade. (Similar but not quite the same thing when I use a shitty cross platform UI that doesn't get things quite right.)
I should probably collect a few good fonts and color schemes and rotate them automatically.
And you know, it doesn't really matter when working. But the novelty is very useful to get me going. Once I'm rolling on a project, I can be in any broken environment and stay in the flow.
I could not agree more with almost everything you just said, even the Ruby bit (did the same thing, even bought a book, though I gave up a little prematurely).
The only time seeking novelty hurts me is with side projects. As soon as I get used to the project I lose site of the bigger goal, and then I just want to start a fresh, new side project.
I've been using the X 6x13 font for about 12-13 years. Though these days I've had to switch to a TrueType one that looks the same - presumably reproducing the pixels with hand-drawn boxes...
Hack is quite nice in terms of the aspect ratio, but in common with many modern fonts it doesn't look very good at low point sizes on a ~100dpi monitor. Not exactly unexpected - nobody bothers to hint their fonts any more, and/or provide bitmap versions for low point sizes - I'm sure it takes ages anyway and most people won't care - but still a shame. I have antialiasing switched off on Windows, and Hack looks pretty horrible. But 9pt non-AA Arial Unicode MS shows delightful-looking small fonts are possible...
Looks good on a retina display though. Just need to replace all my monitors with 250+dpi ones and I'll be set!
Same here :) I was a lucida console user for years (and before that Courier) but as I passed 40 my eyes told me it would be better to use something else. Consolas it was, and I have to admit, it's great.
I tried hack, it looked OK (in vs.net) but the 0 (zero) didn't render with the fill-in but open. That of course sucks, as for a programmer a 0 has to be different from O. Perhaps it's something related to vs.net's rendering, not sure.
I sometimes need Japanese characters on the console, so I got in the habit of using this font. The only thing I did was return the backslash character to be an actual backslash character (rather than yen symbol, which most Japanese fonts do).
Sorry, I don't have a picture of it (and I couldn't even find a good picture because they only show Japanese characters ;-) ). It's quite a nice programmer font, but just about the opposite to Consolas. Consolas is short and wide, whereas Ume Plus is very narrow. This gives you more columns, rather than more lines. I often split my screen left and right (tests on the right hand side) and due to poor vision, I have massive fonts. This gives me a few extra columns to work with.
As a retro-computing geek who had an early contact with IBM 3278 terminals, I am very fond of their font. So much, in fact, I recreated it based on earlier bitmaps that trace their history back to a student who copied it pixel by pixel from a real terminal. May not be your piece of cake, but you can try it:
Tamsyn [1] made me switch from Consolas. Now I am not even looking for another font. It is so perfect. But it being a bitmapped font, I get only two sizes. But I am so happy with it that I don't even mind...
