Re: Web font linking progress summary

From: "Ben Weiner" <ben@readingtype.org.uk>
> In any case I think the discussion so far has been excellent. In 
> particular we have already destroyed:
> - the original EOT proposal from way back

Why we should not act as if Microsoft didn't exist

Microsoft strongly support EOT. You may introduce as many formats as you
want, if Microsoft thinks it's not as good as EOT (regarding to security for font 
authors and the compression rate), it will not be implemented in IE.

As IE still represent 60% of the market share, your format will never be used
by web designers. I remind you, if you had forgotten it, that it's the objective of
this workgroup : find a solution for webdesigners as well as for font vendors.

Microsoft may accept another proposal that meet these two conditions, but
this new format would not be supported in IE6, IE7 and IE8.

Why another format that EOT will be a problem for web designers

So, you new format WILL NOT work in IE6 => IE8, at least. This simple fact
makes it unpossible to use it in our sites for at least 5-7 years. Many people 
stated here that it's not a possible solution as web designers need a solution 
more quickly.

So, it seems that many people are agreeing that EOT or EOT-Lite is the only
way that would quickly create an interoperable solution for font embedding.

Quotes about Embedded OpenTrueType
  Aryeh Gregor :
  << The goal is for web authors to win, and EOT is the best way to do that. >>

  Tab Atkins Jr. :
  << Over the course of the discussions, I've been convinced that there's
  some definite benefits in supporting EOT or some compatible variant as
  an interoperable format. >>

  Brad Kemper :
  << In my survey, 330 web designers/developers respond [that they would like to use 
  retail fonts in their websites]. >>
   
  Fontembedding.com :
  << Ascender believes that although not perfect, EOT represents the best current 
  solution for type designers and font foundries to protect their Intellectual Property. 
  It is the only web font embedding solution that respects font embedding permissions, 
  uses an industry-proven subsetting and compression mechanism, and ties embed-
  ded fonts to specific web sites. Ascender hopes that other web browsers will make it 
  a priority to support EOT once it becomes a W3C standard. >>

  None of these are microsoft-related.
Regards,
Fremy