Is it possible to change the default font size in IE8?

I'm running Windows 7 with IE8. I've rarely used IE, pretty much always using Firefox so my question is, is there a way to make the default font larger in IE8 without having to always start over after closing it? From what I see there are only small, medium, large and largest settings, no way to actually set the font size?

There's an excellent page here on Browser Font settings: http://www.joedolson.com/articles/2008/03/refining-text-presentation/#ie678

But the size issue on Internet Explorer is very limited
Another option is to hold down Ctrl on the keyboard, and use your mouse scroll wheel button, to reduce and enlarge the entire web page