FontBook Vs. Extensis Suitcase

owaters

owaters

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I have some queries about FontBook. Does it do the same job as Extensis Suitcase?

I have been running Suitcase for years and only just decided to take a look at FontBook. What does it offer and what can it not do compared to Suitcase?

Suitcase is good but it annoys me that its constantly running as an open application, obviously taking up some of my precious memory! lol.

Thanks for any replies :)
 
Fontbook is currently not a viable contender for replacing Suitcase. It is capable of handling only a mall number of Fonts (it's really only for home-users), whereas Suitcase does all the font handling jobs we've come to expect (Font sets, Truetype overriding, auto-activation etc).
 
They both accomplish the same thing -- activation of fonts.

Font Book must also be running in order for it to be active, just like Suitcase.

Contrary to what JeffCGD said, I've used FontBook with over 3,000 fonts and it ran perfectly fine -- slow as molasses, but perfectly fine. All fonts activated just fine and the program was perfectly stable. Suitcase is much quicker at handing that amount of fonts, though.

One annoying thing about FontBook -- it copies your fonts into ~/System/Library/Fonts. I used it with 3,000 fonts the first time around. I'm sure you can figure out how surprised I was by this when I found out... :p

Stick with Suitcase. FontBook is a good try, but for professional-level font management, use Suitcase.
 
I agree with the assessment that Extensis is a more professional/powerful font tool than FontBook. FontBook's speed makes using it for professional graphics almost impossible.
 
I was SOOO disappointed with FontBook as I had been waiting for it for months. Seems to me font management should be handled by the OS. Functionally, I love it. For a small number of fonts it actually worked more consistently for me than Suitcase, so there is still hope.

I've tried them all, Juggler, Font Agent Pro, Font Reserve, Suitcase, shareware versions, etc. For me, Suitcase is the best overall. It's fast, has excellent multi-font preview, easy search, good font corruption detection/repair via the swift Font Doctor, uses fonts without forcing you to move or copy them, is stable and pretty much just works.

It's not the holy grail though. I have found all font managers to be lacking on one area or another. My two big requirements, speed and function, are met with Suitcase. I used to prefer Font Agent Pro, but man is that thing slow (or at least it used to be last I used it over a year ago).

One has to believe Extensis will merge Suitcase and Font Reserve into one super program, but it's been a while since the buyout and it still hasn't happened.

I'm still hoping FontBook comes into its own with Tiger, though I don't recall them touting anything new or improved with FB in the preview.
 
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