Specifications

wanted to integrate a PostScript-style scalable font engine into their respective operating systems, but
neither of them wanted to delegate the control over an important element of their OS to a third-party
company, such as Adobe. Microsoft Windows versions 9x, Me, and 2000 make viewing your existing
TrueType fonts and comparing fonts to each other easy by using the Windows Explorer’s special
menus in the Fonts folder, as previously seen in Figure 1.
Although substantial technical differences exist in the way their font outlines are created, PostScript
and TrueType function in much the same way. The primary advantage of TrueType is that it is already
integrated into the Windows and Macintosh operating systems and does not require external soft-
ware, such as Adobe Type Manager. Most type foundries now produce their fonts in both PostScript
Type 1 and TrueType versions, and any difference between the two in the final product is usually
quite difficult to spot.
As with PostScript, many printers include an internal collection of TrueType fonts that the operating
system makes available to your applications. You should consider the number of fonts supplied with
your printer primarily as a bonus when you evaluate various products. Any typeface provided as an
internal TrueType font in your printer can just as easily be produced using a software version,
although you might have to purchase it separately.
Note
Thousands of TrueType and PostScript Type 1 fonts are available today at a wide range of prices. Many fonts are avail-
able free for the downloading from the Internet or on bargain CD-ROMs, whereas others (such as those offered by
Adobe) are quite expensive by comparison. Be aware that profound differences can exist in the quality of these fonts, and
although it is not always true that more expensive is better, a great many more cheap bad fonts exist than expensive bad
fonts.
Before you decide you need to buy new fonts, take a look at the fonts bundled with office suites and graphics programs.
If you didn’t install these fonts when you installed the program, look at the font samples with the documentation. You might
find that you already have all the fonts you need (And then some!).
Printer Drivers
As with many peripherals, printers are highly reliant on a driver installed on the PC. The printer dri-
ver provides the software interface between the printer and your application or operating system. The
primary function of the driver is to inform the PC about the capabilities of the printer, such as the
PDLs it uses, the types of paper it handles, and the fonts installed. When you print a document in an
application, the print options you select are supplied by the printer driver, although they appear to be
part of the application.
In DOS, printer drivers were integrated into individual applications. A few major software packages,
such as WordPerfect 5.x, provided drivers for a full range of printers, but most included only a few
generic drivers. If you still use DOS applications, you’ll find that driver development for printers was
discontinued years ago for most programs. At times like these, the best thing to do is to select a driver
that supports the same PDL revision as your printer. For example, a LaserJet III driver uses PCL 5,
which will support almost all subsequent LaserJet models, even if it does not use all the printer’s fea-
tures. A DOS application that doesn’t have a driver for your exact printer model quite possibly might
not be capable of taking advantage of all your printer’s capabilities. However, the ability to print at all
from your old DOS application might well outweigh the lack of support for special features.
In all versions of Windows, you install the printer driver as part of the operating system, not in the
individual applications. The Windows product includes drivers for a range of printers, and individual
drivers are almost always available from the printer manufacturer’s online services. Note that the