This font format has been around since the 1980s and is the most common type of cross-platform font. Mac TrueType fonts only work on the Mac, while Windows TrueType fonts work on Windows and Mac OS X. Therefore, a Mac TrueType font will need to be converted to the Windows version in order for it to work in Windows. OpenType -.OTF file extension. OpenType font files are also cross-platform and are based on the TrueType format. Fonts in Mac OS X: Font Formats TrueType fonts. TrueType fonts are Apple's preferred type of font for Mac OS X. Most or all of the fonts that ship with. PostScript fonts. These font files contain the PostScript instructions needed to print to PostScript-supported printers. Launch the Font Book app on your Mac. Select All Fonts in the sidebar. Browse the font list and select any greyed out fonts you like the look of. The grey indicates they're either deactivated.
A: It would be nice if Macintosh and Windows only used the same type of font files. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Even though most font formats are 'crossplatform,' they often need to be converted to work on both platforms.
The following are the three most popular font formats:
- TrueType - .TTF file extension. TrueType was developed by Apple but is also supported by Microsoft Windows. This font format has been around since the 1980s and is the most common type of cross-platform font. Mac TrueType fonts only work on the Mac, while Windows TrueType fonts work on Windows and Mac OS X. Therefore, a Mac TrueType font will need to be converted to the Windows version in order for it to work in Windows.
- OpenType - .OTF file extension. OpenType font files are also cross-platform and are based on the TrueType format. They merge all the necessary components required for Macintosh and Windows files into a single file. The Macintosh components (which includes the .AFM file) and the Windows components (.PFB and .PFM files) are all included in an OpenType font file, which means you can install and use the same font file on both Windows and Macintosh computers. For more information on OpenType fonts, view Adobe's Introduction to OpenType.
- PostScript - Mac: .SUIT or no extension; Windows: .PFB and .PFM. This format was developed by Adobe and is used to ensure accurate representation of fonts both on screen and in print. Mac OS X includes native support for PostScript Type 1 fonts, while Windows XP may require additional software or drivers to fully support all PostScript fonts. Because there are Mac PostScript and Windows PostScript font files, the same file will not install on both platforms.
Of the above font types, only the OpenType font format includes all the necessary files to be used on both Macintosh and Windows platforms. Mac OS X will recognize most Windows TrueType and PostScript fonts without requiring conversion. Mac OS 9, on the other hand, will not install most Windows fonts. Windows will only recognize Mac TrueType and PostScript fonts in Windows if they are converted using a program such as CrossFont.
Updated: June 15, 2011
Last updated: 2008/06/03
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Introduction
Here you can find the list with the standard set of fonts common to all versions of Windows and their Mac substitutes, referred sometimes as 'browser safe fonts'. This is the reference I use when making web pages and I expect you will find it useful too.
If you are new to web design, maybe you are thinking: 'Why I have to limit to that small set of fonts? I have a large collection of nice fonts in my computer'. Well, as seasoned web designers already know, browsers can use only the fonts installed in each computer, so it means that every visitor of your web page needs to have all the fonts you want to use installed in his/her computer. Of course, different people will have different fonts installed, and thus come the need of a standard set of fonts. Fortunately, CSS allows set several values for the font-family property, which eases the task a bit.
If you want to know how the fonts are displayed in other OS's or browsers than yours, after the table you can find several screen shots of this page in different systems and browsers. Also, you can take a look to the list of the default fonts included with each version of Windows.
The list
First, a few introductory notes:
- The names in grey are the generic family of each font.
- In some cases the Mac equivalent is the same font, since Mac OS X also includes some of the fonts shipped with Windows.
- The notes at the bottom contains specific information about some of the fonts.
| Normal style | Bold style |
|---|---|
| Arial, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif | Arial, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif |
| Arial Black, Arial Black, Gadget, sans-serif | Arial Black, Arial Black, Gadget, sans-serif |
| Comic Sans MS, Comic Sans MS5, cursive | Comic Sans MS, Comic Sans MS5, cursive |
| Courier New, Courier New, monospace | Courier New, Courier New, monospace |
| Georgia1, Georgia, serif | Georgia1, Georgia, serif |
| Impact, Impact5, Charcoal6, sans-serif | Impact, Impact5, Charcoal6, sans-serif |
| Lucida Console, Monaco5, monospace | Lucida Console, Monaco5, monospace |
| Lucida Sans Unicode, Lucida Grande, sans-serif | Lucida Sans Unicode, Lucida Grande, sans-serif |
| Palatino Linotype, Book Antiqua3, Palatino, serif | Palatino Linotype, Book Antiqua3, Palatino, serif |
| Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif | Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif |
| Times New Roman, Times New Roman, Times, serif | Times New Roman, Times New Roman, Times, serif |
| Trebuchet MS1, Trebuchet MS, sans-serif | Trebuchet MS1, Trebuchet MS, sans-serif |
| Verdana, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif | Verdana, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif |
| Symbol, Symbol(Symbol2, Symbol2) | Symbol, Symbol(Symbol2, Symbol2) |
| Webdings, Webdings(Webdings2, Webdings2) | Webdings, Webdings(Webdings2, Webdings2) |
| Wingdings, Zapf Dingbats(Wingdings2, Zapf Dingbats2) | Wingdings, Zapf Dingbats(Wingdings2, Zapf Dingbats2) |
| MS Sans Serif4, Geneva, sans-serif | MS Sans Serif4, Geneva, sans-serif |
| MS Serif4, New York6, serif | MS Serif4, New York6, serif |
1 Georgia and Trebuchet MS are bundled with Windows 2000/XP and they are also included in the IE font pack (and bundled with other MS applications), so they are quite common in Windows 98 systems.
2 Symbolic fonts are only displayed in Internet Explorer, in other browsers a font substitute is used instead (although the Symbol font does work in Opera and the Webdings works in Safari).
3 Book Antiqua is almost exactly the same font that Palatino Linotype, Palatino Linotype is included in Windows 2000/XP while Book Antiqua was bundled with Windows 98.
4 These fonts are not TrueType fonts but bitmap fonts, so they won't look well when using some font sizes (they are designed for 8, 10, 12, 14, 18 and 24 point sizes at 96 DPI).
5 These fonts work in Safari but only when using the normal font style, and not with bold or italic styles. Comic Sans MS works in bold but not in italic. Other Mac browsers seems to emulate properly the styles not provided by the font (thanks to Christian Fecteau for the tip).
6 These fonts are present in Mac OS X only if Classic is installed (thanks to Julian Gonggrijp for the corrections).
How the fonts look in different systems and browsers
- Mac OS X 10.4.8, Firefox 2.0, font smoothing enabled (thanks to Juris Vecvanags for the screen shot)
- Mac OS X 10.4.4, Firefox 1.5, font smoothing enabled (thanks to Eric Zavesky for the screen shot)
- Mac OS X 10.4.11, Safari 3.0.4, font smoothing enabled (thanks to Nolan Gladius for the screen shot)
- Mac OS X 10.4.4, Safari 2.0.3, font smoothing enabled (thanks to Eric Zavesky for the screen shot)
- Windows Vista, Internet Explorer 7, ClearType enabled (thanks to Michiel Bijl for the screen shot)
- Windows Vista, Firefox 2.0, ClearType enabled (thanks to Michiel Bijl for the screen shot)
- Linux (Ubuntu 7.04 + Gnome), Firefox 2.0 (thanks to Juris Vecvanags for the screen shot)
Fonts For Mac Apple Turnovers
Note that while the ClearType smoothing is applied always, the basic font smoothing of Windows 98/2000/XP is applied only to certain font sizes. That sizes can be specified by the font designer, but usually they are in the ranges of 0-6 and 14+ points (pt).
Download 2013 office for mac os. The Mac font list was obtained from the Browser Safe Fonts PDF of webbedEnvironments and from the List of fonts in Mac OS X of the Wikipedia.
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