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| Font Problems with the OS 10.3.5 Update | | Date Created: 03 Oct, 2004, 01:40 PM |
 Apple's new 10.3.5 update comes with an unexpected font problem that the Macintosh community must try to deal with...
It seems that Apple "broke" something with their OS 10.3.5. So far the problems seem to be the most pronounced with fonts that have atypical table data -- like expert fonts, dingbat fonts (including Zapf Dingbats), custom fonts, etc. The programs that are affected are any program that uses the Apple character table to render type. This not only includes Apple's programs, like Mail and AppleWorks, but also third party programs like QuarkXpress 6.x and Microsoft Word.
The good news in this is for Adobe, Inc. Adobe's programs use it's own character lookup table and seem to be (for the most part) immune to the problem.
The OS 10.3.5 font related issues were first reported on MacFixit. The archived story is not accessible unless you have a Pro subscription -- otherwise I would link to the story. Since the story can't be linked to, I have copied the most pertinent text from the site below...
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MacFixit - Monday August 23 2004
Mac OS X 10.3.5 (#10): Font issues; confirmed by Apple?; Printing problems; Safe Boot for loss of resolutions; more
Font issues; confirmed by Apple? MacFixIt reader John is one of many to report issues with certain fonts after upgrading to Mac OS X 10.3.5. He is the first we've heard of, however, to receive a confirmation from Apple.
To recap, in most cases of this issue, documents containing the problematic fonts (when opened under Mac OS X 10.3.5) will display no text.
John writes "I am a graphic designer. We immediately had an issue with certain fonts after installing 10.3.5. Minion Expert from Adobe was the first. We have had a team of 8 designers using it for 6 months. Those who upgraded found that any file opened in Quark using Minion Expert could not be seen.
"Apple confirmed, after a long serious call, that 10.3.5 did indeed change the way character maps were read....they assured me the font was in error and had me call Adobe. The font works perfectly in Illustrator, Photoshop and any Adobe software, but not Quark, FileMaker or Word. Adobe said that their own products does not call on the Apple font technology, and uses its own to render fonts on screen. Since Minion Expert did work in there programs, they deemed the font fully functional.
"Long story short. 10.3.5 started this problem. Huge, huge problem for us. Many, many GBs of digital file now only work for 10.3.4 systems. ouch."
If you choose to revert to Mac OS X 10.3.4, your best bet in this scenario is to perform an archive and install process from the Panther CD/DVD, and then re-apply the Mac OS X 10.3.4 combo updater.
For more great news and and troubleshooting resources go to MacFixit.com. |
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