diff --git a/include/wx/msw/font.h b/include/wx/msw/font.h
index 1ab10844bc..f7c564b1e9 100644
--- a/include/wx/msw/font.h
+++ b/include/wx/msw/font.h
@@ -78,6 +78,11 @@ public:
     virtual bool RealizeResource();
     virtual WXHANDLE GetResourceHandle();
     virtual bool FreeResource(bool force = FALSE);
+
+    // for consistency with other wxMSW classes and to have a const
+    // GetResourceHandle()-like function we have a synonym for it
+    WXHFONT GetHFONT() const;
+
     /*
        virtual bool UseResource();
        virtual bool ReleaseResource();
diff --git a/include/wx/msw/private.h b/include/wx/msw/private.h
index 6c5f404608..16a579b957 100644
--- a/include/wx/msw/private.h
+++ b/include/wx/msw/private.h
@@ -289,6 +289,9 @@ private:
 #define GetHcursor()            ((HCURSOR)GetHCURSOR())
 #define GetHcursorOf(cursor)    ((HCURSOR)(cursor).GetHCURSOR())
 
+#define GetHfont()              ((HFONT)GetHFONT())
+#define GetHfontOf(font)        ((HFONT)(font).GetHFONT())
+
 #endif // wxUSE_GUI
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/locale/.cvsignore b/locale/.cvsignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cd1f2c9439
--- /dev/null
+++ b/locale/.cvsignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+*.mo
diff --git a/samples/font/font.cpp b/samples/font/font.cpp
index 8c1a0b630a..c8dd213baa 100644
--- a/samples/font/font.cpp
+++ b/samples/font/font.cpp
@@ -84,6 +84,9 @@ public:
     // event handlers (these functions should _not_ be virtual)
     void OnQuit(wxCommandEvent& event);
     void OnAbout(wxCommandEvent& event);
+    void OnIncFont(wxCommandEvent& event) { DoResizeFont(+2); }
+    void OnDecFont(wxCommandEvent& event) { DoResizeFont(-2); }
+
     void OnViewMsg(wxCommandEvent& event);
     void OnSelectFont(wxCommandEvent& event);
     void OnEnumerateFamiliesForEncoding(wxCommandEvent& event);
@@ -100,10 +103,13 @@ protected:
                              wxFontEncoding encoding = wxFONTENCODING_SYSTEM,
                              bool silent = FALSE);
 
+    void DoResizeFont(int diff);
     void DoChangeFont(const wxFont& font, const wxColour& col = wxNullColour);
 
     void Resize(const wxSize& size, const wxFont& font = wxNullFont);
 
+    size_t      m_fontSize; // in points
+
     wxTextCtrl *m_textctrl;
     MyCanvas   *m_canvas;
 
@@ -123,6 +129,8 @@ enum
     Font_Quit = 1,
     Font_About,
     Font_ViewMsg,
+    Font_IncSize,
+    Font_DecSize,
     Font_Choose = 100,
     Font_EnumFamiliesForEncoding,
     Font_EnumFamilies,
@@ -141,6 +149,8 @@ enum
 BEGIN_EVENT_TABLE(MyFrame, wxFrame)
     EVT_MENU(Font_Quit,  MyFrame::OnQuit)
     EVT_MENU(Font_About, MyFrame::OnAbout)
+    EVT_MENU(Font_IncSize, MyFrame::OnIncFont)
+    EVT_MENU(Font_DecSize, MyFrame::OnDecFont)
     EVT_MENU(Font_ViewMsg, MyFrame::OnViewMsg)
     EVT_MENU(Font_Choose, MyFrame::OnSelectFont)
     EVT_MENU(Font_EnumFamiliesForEncoding, MyFrame::OnEnumerateFamiliesForEncoding)
@@ -191,6 +201,8 @@ bool MyApp::OnInit()
 MyFrame::MyFrame(const wxString& title, const wxPoint& pos, const wxSize& size)
        : wxFrame((wxFrame *)NULL, -1, title, pos, size), m_textctrl(NULL)
 {
+    m_fontSize = 12;
+
     // create a menu bar
     wxMenu *menuFile = new wxMenu;
 
@@ -202,12 +214,15 @@ MyFrame::MyFrame(const wxString& title, const wxPoint& pos, const wxSize& size)
     menuFile->Append(Font_Quit, "E&xit\tAlt-X", "Quit this program");
 
     wxMenu *menuFont = new wxMenu;
+    menuFont->Append(Font_IncSize, "&Increase font size by 2 points\tCtrl-I");
+    menuFont->Append(Font_DecSize, "&Decrease font size by 2 points\tCtrl-D");
+    menuFont->AppendSeparator();
     menuFont->Append(Font_Choose, "&Select font...\tCtrl-S",
                      "Select a standard font");
     menuFont->AppendSeparator();
     menuFont->Append(Font_EnumFamilies, "Enumerate font &families\tCtrl-F");
     menuFont->Append(Font_EnumFixedFamilies,
-                     "Enumerate f&ixed font families\tCtrl-I");
+                     "Enumerate fi&xed font families\tCtrl-X");
     menuFont->Append(Font_EnumEncodings,
                      "Enumerate &encodings\tCtrl-E");
     menuFont->Append(Font_EnumFamiliesForEncoding,
@@ -391,6 +406,23 @@ void MyFrame::OnEnumerateFamiliesForEncoding(wxCommandEvent& WXUNUSED(event))
     }
 }
 
+void MyFrame::DoResizeFont(int diff)
+{
+    wxFont fontOld = m_canvas->GetTextFont();
+
+    DoChangeFont(
+        wxFont(
+               fontOld.GetPointSize() + diff,
+               fontOld.GetFamily(),
+               fontOld.GetStyle(),
+               fontOld.GetWeight(),
+               fontOld.GetUnderlined(),
+               fontOld.GetFaceName(),
+               fontOld.GetEncoding()
+              )
+    );
+}
+
 void MyFrame::DoChangeFont(const wxFont& font, const wxColour& col)
 {
     Resize(GetSize(), font);
@@ -610,7 +642,8 @@ void MyCanvas::OnPaint( wxPaintEvent &WXUNUSED(event) )
 
     // output the font name/info
     wxString fontInfo;
-    fontInfo.Printf("Font family is '%s', style '%s', weight '%s'",
+    fontInfo.Printf("Font size is %d points, family is %s, style %s, weight %s",
+                    m_font.GetPointSize(),
                     m_font.GetFamilyString().c_str(),
                     m_font.GetStyleString().c_str(),
                     m_font.GetWeightString().c_str());
diff --git a/src/msw/font.cpp b/src/msw/font.cpp
index 0a38c677af..071d8b0bd9 100644
--- a/src/msw/font.cpp
+++ b/src/msw/font.cpp
@@ -228,6 +228,11 @@ bool wxFont::FreeResource(bool force)
 }
 
 WXHANDLE wxFont::GetResourceHandle()
+{
+    return GetHFONT();
+}
+
+WXHFONT wxFont::GetHFONT() const
 {
     if ( !M_FONTDATA )
         return 0;
diff --git a/src/msw/window.cpp b/src/msw/window.cpp
index 4b7e7370d5..c3dd1a083b 100644
--- a/src/msw/window.cpp
+++ b/src/msw/window.cpp
@@ -134,6 +134,9 @@ wxWindow *wxFindWinFromHandle(WXHWND hWnd);
 // mouse clicks
 static void TranslateKbdEventToMouse(wxWindow *win, int *x, int *y, WPARAM *flags);
 
+// get the text metrics for the current font
+static TEXTMETRIC wxGetTextMetrics(const wxWindow *win);
+
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // event tables
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -1334,26 +1337,14 @@ void wxWindow::AdjustForParentClientOrigin(int& x, int& y, int sizeFlags)
 
 int wxWindow::GetCharHeight() const
 {
-    TEXTMETRIC lpTextMetric;
-    HWND hWnd = GetHwnd();
-    HDC dc = ::GetDC(hWnd);
-
-    GetTextMetrics(dc, &lpTextMetric);
-    ::ReleaseDC(hWnd, dc);
-
-    return lpTextMetric.tmHeight;
+    return wxGetTextMetrics(this).tmHeight;
 }
 
 int wxWindow::GetCharWidth() const
 {
-    TEXTMETRIC lpTextMetric;
-    HWND hWnd = GetHwnd();
-    HDC dc = ::GetDC(hWnd);
-
-    GetTextMetrics(dc, &lpTextMetric);
-    ::ReleaseDC(hWnd, dc);
-
-    return lpTextMetric.tmAveCharWidth;
+    // +1 is needed because Windows apparently adds it when calculating the
+    // dialog units size in pixels
+    return wxGetTextMetrics(this).tmAveCharWidth + 1;
 }
 
 void wxWindow::GetTextExtent(const wxString& string,
@@ -4280,3 +4271,31 @@ static void TranslateKbdEventToMouse(wxWindow *win, int *x, int *y, WPARAM *flag
 
     win->ScreenToClient(x, y);
 }
+
+static TEXTMETRIC wxGetTextMetrics(const wxWindow *win)
+{
+    // prepare the DC
+    TEXTMETRIC tm;
+    HWND hwnd = GetHwndOf(win);
+    HDC hdc = ::GetDC(hwnd);
+
+    // and select the current font into it
+    HFONT hfont = GetHfontOf(win->GetFont());
+    if ( hfont )
+    {
+        hfont = (HFONT)::SelectObject(hdc, hfont);
+    }
+
+    // finally retrieve the text metrics from it
+    GetTextMetrics(hdc, &tm);
+
+    // and clean up
+    if ( hfont )
+    {
+        (void)::SelectObject(hdc, hfont);
+    }
+
+    ::ReleaseDC(hwnd, hdc);
+
+    return tm;
+}