viewing font files

[heff]

maybe i'm just missing something here (been using os x since the pb), but is there any way to double-click a font file and see a sample a la os 9? having to install a font in one of the various font directories and fire up textedit to get to the font panel just to view what the characters of the font look like seems really clunky, particularly if i'm just trying to see what the characters of that typeface look like. i'm assuming there's an easier, even blatantly obvious, method that i'm too dense to see. any ideas?

many thanks in advance.