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A font too far... |
It was 1989 and the world was awash in Omnis Applications. Problem was when you ported that shiny application, binary compatible with full native GUI controls from the Mac to Windows 3.0 (are the Smalltalk vendors paying attention here?), then it was a basket case. It seems when Microsoft cloned the Mac no-one was paying much attention to the font issue. Today of course Macs rule in the publishing industry because Windows fonts are so lousy, but back then it was a life or death issue to us.
Sure it's Times 12 point on the Mac, sure it's Time 12 point on Windows, same in name but not in looks, line breaks, spacing, size, all different, so disaster looms.
No problem just spend a few hours re-laying out the application's windows on Windows, again and again...
NOT... Ok, armed with ignorance, and a Windows 3.0 SDK I set out to create a Window font that looked like the Mac font. Little problem, there were NO Windows fonts available outside of Microsoft! A clue. It turned out the font editor, the instructions, everything was bogus. There were no fonts because you couldn't make them.
That didn't stop me, pressing onwards thru the Christmas holidays I discovered how to create FONTS! Then armed with these fonts you could create applications that looked the same between the Mac and Windows, success! We called them AccuFonts™.
From a legal perspective it seems you can clone bit images of fonts, not postscript programs that create fonts. Also of course the font name has to change. So hunt the web for Accujen, Accumon, or Accushi.
People like AccuFonts so much we sold a licence to Blyth/Omnis Software, then to Informix, then to PowerBuilder.
In 2001, the copyright owner was kind enough to grant a license to use to the Squeak community to provide a version of Squeak that was Apple font free.
Post 2006 after Impara's work with Fonts for Sophie we managed to integrate vector sub-pixel fonts into Squeak, to replace the AccuFonts as the default.
PS The following are worldwide trademarks of the indicated owners or their subsidiaries, registered in the United States of America as indicated by ® and in numerous other countries worldwide:
AccuWare Business Solutions Ltd.: AccuFonts™; Accumon™; Accujen™; Accumshi™