Fonts in Microsoft Internet Explorer

http://www.microsoft.com/truetype/iexplor/ie.htm (PC Press Internet CD, 03/1996)

Information for type users

Fonts in Microsoft Internet Explorer

Since the launch of the first graphical browsers and subsequent explosion of interest in the World Wide Web there have been a steady stream of enhancements to the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) used to create Web pages. Despite some criticism these additions have been welcomed by page designers and readers alike.
    HTML is a markup language that defines document structure, rather than appearance. However, the new HTML commands, when combined with browser defaults, are used by authors to define document appearance. Although this shift away from structural markup has given Web page creators increasing control over page layout, typeface choice has remained one document attribute still decided by the browser or by the user.
    In October 1994 New York Times reporter Deirdre Carmody quoted statements made by high-profile magazine art director Roger Black, concerning fonts and the Web. In Carmody's weekly column, 'Magazine Notes', Black made the following statement. 'For a publication to appear on the Internet without its own typeface is like going on television naked.'
    With the release of Microsoft Internet Explorer, dreams of type on the net came one step closer to reality. Microsoft Internet Explorer supports the FONT FACE extension to HTML that lets page designers specify the typeface used to render sections of text.

<FONT FACE="typeface name" [,second choice] [,third choice]>

A list of typefaces may be specified. If your first choice is not present then the following choices will be tried in turn. If none of the specified typefaces are available then a default will be used. For example;

<FONT FACE="Comic Sans MS,Courier New">

This renders text using the Comic Sans typeface. If for any reason you don't have Comic Sans installed on your system the second choice, Courier New, is used.

Unfortunately it has been difficult for authors to fully exploit the FONT FACE feature, as they can not be sure which fonts a Microsoft Internet Explorer user will have installed on their system.
    This is where the Web Font Pack will come in. The pack will provide a range of high quality TrueType fonts which users can download and install free of charge. Web page designers can specify these fonts for use with their pages in the knowledge they are freely available to any user.
    As a initial step Microsoft is making a number of font sets available for you to download, install and use. Furthermore you can freely distribute these sets from your own site. For more information on these sets please see our Core fonts for the World Wide Web page.
    We have also put together a list of the typefaces that are supplied with popular Microsoft products. This list is particularly useful for publishing information on an Intranet or internal Web as it should help you choose fonts that your readers will probably have installed on their machines.

Future developments
The FONT FACE tag is an important first step in bringing fonts to the Web. Microsoft fully supports the World Wide Web Consortium's work in formulating the Cascading Style Sheets standard [external link please see our disclaimer] which will further extend browser font support.

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