However much I may enjoy a discussion where people who hold conflicting views just repeat 'no, you're wrong' at each other, its all moot because IMO Lokasenna's suggestion would solve the whole thing. X marks the spot this thread turned sour.
Just to prove I'm not a raving lunatic: That sure looks like bold to me. Zooming in with Photoshop confirms that the letters ARE thicker, so I don't think it's an optical illusion or anything. I'm using Alpha 3 with a modified Unempty Minima 73, if it's at all relevant.
lol, I thought it was the docker too. I've noticed it looks bold on my computer only when ClearType is enabled, otherwise, it looks like the font changes a little bit but not noticeably bold like the project tabs.
also, I've noticed almost every program and most OS ui uses bold to indicate the selected tab or whatnot... so I don't think it would be bad to follow this through in reaper