This is on the same #Wikipedia main page

The Malayalam language can be written in many writing styles, most people prefer the traditional style while others opt for the modern style. The modern style was developed to enable typewriters and printing and as such it has been hugely important to bring knowledge to the people of Kerala.

With modern digital technology the restrictions of the previous technology no longer apply. Wikipedia can be in either style because with WebFonts it needs to be no more then a matter of preference. In Linux you will be provided with the traditional fonts by default while Windows tries to be more modern.

WebFonts are a MediaWiki extension that can be applied in many ways and for many reasons. For Wikis we have identified six user scenarios so far. The bet within the Localisation team is that the community will come up with more/less then three additional user scenarios. We expect however that these scenarios can be happily accommodated with the functionality we are currently writing specifications for.
Thanks,
      GerardM