Font management gets an upgrade
JimD (2624 pencils) | Wed, 2008-12-03 17:22
I've written a full review of Extensis Suitcase Fusion 2, which you can read at Macworld's Creative Notes blog, where I covered the user interface, auto-activation, and my real-world experience using the application.
If you've used it in the past, or are looking for something a little more powerful than Apple's Font Book app or Linotype's FontExplorer X, then this review should answer any questions you have about the latest Suitcase upgrade.
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Sounds like a good product. But what are the advantages you found to this over FontExplorer X?
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in the same breath,
So all in all, I am curious about it and will give it a test try. However, given this economy and how freelancers are becoming more and more budget minded, FEX is a great free alternative that i just might have to stick with...
EDIT:
if you're looking for the PC Linotype Beta, then let me know...
it's glitchy on Vista, but if you set it to run as XP within Vista it actually runs better then it ever had in the past.
____________________________________________
Architectural Technician - Multimedia Designer
www.ArchMedia.us
Some great points there. I think the biggest two are that it doesn't have to be open to activate fonts and that it doesn't mess with system fonts.
It's definitely a product I'll keep an eye on, and I think your point about product life-span is a great one - FEX hasn't really been updated in a year (and the windows version seems to be a permanent, unavailable beta), but archmedia's point about commercial being no more stable (business wise) is very valid.
Thanks for a great review, and this equally useful run-through. I'm also glad ot see that Extensis is getting back out there and creating great products.
I've been burned before by Extensis... FEX has given me zero problems for the past few years after many struggles with Suitcase, and that other one (what was it called?).
I'm going to need a big community WOW before I change my font workflow again.
ditto. FEX is awesome and I've converted the 15 or so designers in my department to it. Suitcase/Fusion/whatever you call it was a nightmare.
I agree that Suitcase was buggy in OSX in the past. This is one of the reasons I like Fusion 2 so much now. It's NOT buggy at all. I haven't come across a single issue with it. If you're happy with FEX, stick with it. It's a nice little app.
I can tell you that you're going to be getting a little surprise from Linotype at Macworld Expo in January regarding FontExplorer.
Keep your eyes open for it.
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A good surprise?
I don't have all the details just yet.
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You can't do this to me...
Who needs to manage fonts?
You just put them in the computer and that's it!
http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com
http://stevefakeballmer.wordpress.com
I am not Steve Ballmer pretending not to be me!
I don't think I could have slept tonight without your insight!
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LOL.
Those who dance are thought mad by those who do not hear the music.
"Art -- the one achievement of Man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised." - James Thurber
ahahhaha
openSUSE
Linux for open minds
... are you people mocking me or something!
I can buy you and your cheap little "blog" here!
http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com
http://stevefakeballmer.wordpress.com
I am not Steve Ballmer pretending not to be me!
I believe the words you are striving so hard to recall go something like this:
I'll get you my pretty and your little dog too!
"Those who dance are thought mad by those who do not hear the music."
"Art -- the one achievement of Man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised." - James Thurber
I just spit coffee all over my keyboard... LOL!
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Here's a (very brief) write-up of another font management app that's out soon:
http://www.tuaw.com/2008/12/21/beta-beat-fontcase/
Looks interesting though, as the article mentions, it may not be for pro users. It's nice to see the font management competition hotting up though as it can only mean good things for us end users!
I'm with JimD on this one. I've been using Suitcase Fusion for years. I've got everything organized into sets and don't really see a compelling reason to switch to a new font manager. Font Explorer may have been compelling since it was free, but since they're going to charge for updates from now on, I'll stick with what I know.
Oh, and who the heck told Steve Ballmer about the internets? ;-)
Today we released an update to Suitcase Fusion 2 that makes it compatible with Tiger (Mac OS X 10.4) as well as introduces a number of new features.
This update is free for current users - choose Suitcase Fusion 2 > Check for Updates to download the update.
If you're a Tiger user, or just want to demo Suitcase Fusion 2, you can download it from our website:
http://www.extensis.com/suitcasefusion
Jim Kidwell
Extensis
http://blog.extensis.com
http://twitter.com/extensis
Thanks for the update Jim!