For some reason, FreeType broke proper grid-fitting and now requires environment variable FREETYPE_PROPERTIES=truetype:interpreter-version=35 to activate it.
It's not quite right to say it broke proper grid-fitting, because that depends on what the fonts were designed and hinted for. The old one matches Windows 98 hinting (and therefore that era's core fonts), and the new one matches ClearType's hinting (and therefore that era's core fonts).