The most frequent use of LATEX is to generate text that is
reproduced on
8.5×11 inch pages (in the USA at least). The
default page boundaries have been expanded to reflect this fact. It
looks OK in eleven or twelve point type. In twelve point type I set
\baselinestretch to .95 to increase the ratio of black to
white. But I am into heavy mathematics with a lot of displays;
people typing straight text will probably want to leave
\baselinestretch as it is, or even increase it a little.
I find no virtues in ten point type on pages of this size.