CompuServe Thread

Is the issue really moot – that is Adobe releasing Type I info. Bitstream cracked it some time ago. So did RIPS and some firm in Isreal. I suspect no one at Adobe is too pleased with Warnock's emotional offering. The stock market viewed it as a mistake. I suspect one tactic used by Adobe will be to (1) announce "plans" for new technology documentation sometime next year and (2) make the "plans" nebulous enough and far enough off that lots and lots of people forget about the whole thing. Apple and MS will still go ahead with their plans and Sun's Folio format will gain some momentum. If anything, the clone vendors (RIPS, CAI, Hypen et al.) stand the best chance of integrating new font schemes and features into their products. Also, there are two major players that have successfully integrated "real" Adobe PostScript and clone products in their product lines. Namely Varityper and CG. ADOBE FORUM PRTYP1.TXT ADOBE TO PUBLISH ITS PROPRIETARY FONT FORMAT SPECIFICATIONS PostScript Developer To Offer Open Font Technology ———————————————————– SAN FRANCISCO, CA. (September 20, 1989) — Adobe Systems Incorporated has announced plans to publish the complete specifications for PostScript(R) language Type 1 format fonts. Until today's announcement, Adobe has licensed tools to major type foundries for developing Type 1 format font software, but retained the specifications as its own. Today's announcement makes Adobe's entire PostScript strategy an open technology, designed to benefit developers and end users alike. The announcement was made during the opening session of the Seybold Computer Publishing Conference and Exhibition, being held here this week. "We will publish the entire specification of the PostScript language, including the Type 1 font format, thus making it a truly open technology," said Dr. John Warnock, Chairman and CEO, Adobe Systems. "We will offer this as a complete specification suitable for international standardization." "Adobe will compete on the excellence of its products and its implementations," said Dr. Charles Geschke, President and Chief Operating Officer, Adobe Systems. "We are confident that the quality of our software and hardware technology, as well as our established service and supoprt to our customers, will continue to make us a very successful company." Adobe officials stated the documentation for the Type 1 format specifications will be published and available to the industry by the first quarter of 1990. "Adobe and the PostScript language have served the printing, publishing, and computing industries exceedingly well over the last five years. We have played a vital role in the evolution of electronic printing by enabling personal computers to achieve the same high quality output as high-end publishing systems," said Warnock. Every major computer vendor, printer and typesetter company, font supplier and software developer supports PostScript technology from Adobe. To date, there are over sixty Adobe printing devices on the market and over four thousand applications that support the PostScript language standard. "PostScript is too important to the industry for us to stand in the way of a unified printing and font technology. Multiple formats will only serve to confuse users and impede the progress of computing and publishing," said Geschke. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Adobe Systems Incorporated 1585 Charleston Road P.O. Box 7900 Mountain View, CA 94039-7900 Phone: 415/961-4400 ************************************** PostScript is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated.