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I frequently rant about how we need choices. In government, in supermarkets, and in computers. I like to be in control. Give me too many options, not too few. So I found it kinda funny, in that eye-rolling tedious sort of way, how when I install Microsoft Office, it automatically dumps a ton of fonts on my system. No choice, no dialog, no cancel button, and no clear way to get rid of them.

The reason I am installing Office, again, is because I went out and bought a brand spanking new copy of Leopard, Apple’s latest operating system. I used the opportunity of a new OS to do a clean install. That means starting the font fiasco anew.

Even among designers, I’m a stickler for font management. I recently spent several days organising and categorising my fonts so they when I need to browse, I’ll be able to make use of all the tricks available. I use Suitcase Fusion rather than FontAgent Pro or some of those other font management applications. See, choices are a good thing.

I should probably mention how the first thing I do when I install a new operating system is to uninstall Font Book. Man, that thing just doesn’t get the job done. And then I comb through the 7 or so places where fonts are hiding on my system. Adobe and Microsoft are the main culprits. But Apple doesn’t help the situation with the way they manage fonts out of the box.

One handy new feature of Mac OS X is how fonts now appear as mini previews when viewed in column view. That helps when checking quickly to see if you’ve got right typeface when faffing around with thousands of fonts which are sure to be all mis-arranged and spread out. Oy, this is going to be an uphill battle.

/rant

// a tale of computers & gadgets, design
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