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Beta Beat: Fontcase
A few months ago, a teaser appeared for a new Mac OS X font management app, Fontcase, developed by Pieter Omvlee and with an UI design by Laurent Baumann. Fontcase is designed to replace Apple's Font Book utility, which is not only a mediocre font management app, but has a less than nuanced interface.For the last several months, Fontcase has been in private beta. Today, subscribers to the Fontcase newsletter were invited to download the latest beta. The app is very close to completetion, with a release date scheduled for sometime mid-January 2009, after Macworld. I used a few version of Fontcase while it was in private beta, and as a typography nut, have really been looking forward to this release.First off, the interface is just beautiful. This won't be surprising to anyone who has seen Laurent's work in the past, but it is worth mentioning because of just how elegant and Mac-like the application feels. I think I've used almost every font manager available for OS X and Fontcase is certainly the most attractive.When you open Fontcase, you are given the option to import your System and user fonts (basically everything that is already in Font Book). If you use Linotype's FontExplorer X , you can also import sets and meta-data directly from that application. You can share font collection via Bonjour to other computers on your network.
Ars Technica reviews font managers for OS X
Ars Technica is known for their extensive reviews, and Dave Girard's review of OS X font management programs is no different. He takes a look at FontAgent Pro, Font Explorer, and Suitcase Fusion. Font Book, OS X's builtin font application, is not included in the review because isn't 'industrial strength,' so to speak.If you have lots of fonts, or install lots of fonts, make sure to read over the entire article to get the skinny on the leading font management programs for the Mac.
