[tempguy9999]

Yes, and I understand there's a simple physiological reason for it. To focus, the eye needs to contract the pupil (which is why when people take off their glasses they squint at things. Another test if shortsighted: remove specs and look at a distant item such as a clock on a wall. It looks blurry. Take a sheet of paper, put a pin through it and then look again at the clock through the pinhole - it's a lot less fuzzy). With dark background, the eye tries to expand the pupil to let in more light, yet wants to contract to improve focus, so they fight. With light background, they don't fight.

This is sloppy but I believe correct. Any experts, feel free to correct or extend this, thanks.

When I stated using a mac, the bright background infuriated me, but when I went back to a dark background, I realised the mac was just nicer to use.

To the guy saying it's a strain to use black text on white, I believe some eye disorders make it easier to read white text on black. Another reason is the brightness of the monitor is just excessive - try turning it down.

HTH