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Subject: |
RE: Font scalers -- TrueType |
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Date: |
Thu, 2 Mar 2000 22:50:35 -0800 |
I can answer some of this from the Windows TrueType point of view. Most of
this is off the top of my head, and I have not confirmed any of it, but I
would guess it is fairly accurate.
Windows 3.1
The first Windows version of TrueType (although we had it running on OS/2
first, hence the table name), a strange 16 bit / 32 bit hybrid version.
GETINFO scaler version number 3. The 16 bit issue was the biggest
compatibility issue with the Apple version. Font files were Unicode, and
were mostly created with UGL (except for one development group that "messed
up :)" CE, EE, and ME with fsSelection)
Windows NT 3.1
This was a 32 bit version, much closer to the Apple version, although some
compatibility work was put in to match Windows 3.1. I believe this was still
a GETINFO version 3.
Windows 95, Windows NT 3.5x, Windows NT 4, Windows CE.
This was a total overhaul of TrueType by Microsoft. We spent over a year
rewriting and rearchitecting the product. Major work was done on composite
code (which fixed and created some compatibility issues with Apple), spline
rendering (which definately created some bitmap compatibility issues with
Apple), and dropout control (which was compatible, as we added a new
SCANTYPE.) Additions to TrueType include sbit (via EBDT/EBLC tables instead
of Apple's bdat/bloc - this is a long historical issue that I won't go into
here), font smoothing, and probably a few other things that don't come right
to mind. Windows 95 Japanese version added support for TTC's. A version of
Apple's 'mort' table was used for vertical font variants on the Japanese
version. The Arabic version of Windows used TrueType Open support (now
called OpenType Layout) for alternate glyph forms. I think Windows NT
returned GETINFO version 33 (with no font smoothing), and Windows 95,
Windows CE and NT 4 returned version 34. For fonts, we recommended WGL4, and
updated the OS/2 table to reflect this.
Windows 98
Update for vertical phantom points, and compatibility mode for composites.
This last work was done in cooperation with Apple. Windows 98 Japanese
version uses TrueType Open tables for vertical variants. Ability to query
font smoothing by the hint engine was also added. This was GETINFO version
34.
Windows 2000 and Windows ME.
Miscellaneous fixes, especially in robustness. TTCs supported in all
versions of Windows 2000. Indic support added via OpenType Layout tables.
TrueType files with DSIGs recognized as OpenType files. Basic support for
Unicode surrogate pairs in Windows 2000 with new 'cmap' format (done in
conjunction with Apple and Adobe). GETINFO version 35.
Windows CE "Pocket PC"
Miscellaneous changes, GETINFO version 36.
Uniscribe became available after Windows 95. I'm not the best person to
describe exactly when each script system was added. In general, Uniscribe
runs on down level Win32 systems (WinNT & Win9x) so the current version is
not tied to an operating system.
Finally, there is no "compressed" format that I'm aware of. The TT_, as I'm
sure you're aware, was just the compressed install format used by Windows
setup expand.
GregH
-----Original Message-----
From: Adam Twardoch [mailto:address@hidden
Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2000 8:20 PM
To: 'address@hidden'
Subject: Font scalers -- overview?
Does someone have an overview on what font scalers are currently used in
various applications/OSes?
Especially, I'd appreciate an ability to learn:
- what versions of CoolType ship with retail Adobe apps
- if the Adobe SVG viewer also uses CoolType
- what font scalers are used in Macromedia Director/Shockwave/Flash
- what font scalers are used in Microsoft operating systems
(Windows 9x, NT, 2000, CE, others?) -- T1, TT, OT?
- what font scalers are used in Apple OS (versions?)
- what font scalers are used in various Unix derivates (Linux,
Solaris) and related free software (TeX, GhostScript)?
(XFree? FreeType? Type Solutions' Font Fusion)
and so on...
Of course, if someone also supplied a short overview on what important
features of both the mere font scaler and the whole type rendering engine
are supported in all those versions, that would be just great.
I particularily think of the aspect of
- screen readability: antialiasing/GASP, hinting, embedded bitmaps
- format support: Type 1 (pfb and other forms), TrueType (ttf/datafork and
resource fork), OpenType/CFF
- multilingual features: Unicode/multiscript in both "simple"/WGL4-style
and "advanced"/CJK versions, CID-keyed fonts etc.
- advanced typographical features: OT/GX/AAT, others?
As we've seen from the discussions in the last weeks, there are sometimes
misunderstandings coming from the lack of accurate information covering
that topic. Even people from the major companies sometimes aren't sure. I
know you're all rather busy, but I think such an overview would be quite
helpful for all of us.
Then I have two specific questions:
- Are TTC files (TrueType collections) used somewhere?
- In Windows 3.1, some TTF fonts were supplied in a compressed form (but
they were TTF not TT_ files AFAIR), so that they needed to be
installed prioir to viewing. Is this form of compression still used
somewhere? What tools were used for that?
Thank you in advance,
Adam Twardoch
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