The problem: when using NetBeans IDE on OSX 10.8+ on a retina display MBP the text looks blurry. Very blurry. Unusably blurry. Oddly enough this problem is solved by using an older version of Java - JDK 1.6 instead of JDK 1.7. Quit Netbeans Install "Java for OS X 2012-006" from Apple: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1572 Find the location where the 1.6 JDK was installed. The location depends on the