Existing users, 
FontExplorer X
Professional font management utility.
Version: 1.2.3
WARNING. Does not reliably sort postscript font pairs!
Feedback Type: Review
Contributed by: w i n t e r m u t e Friday, November 11 2005 @ 08:37 PM PST
Product Platform: MacOSX
Used Product For: Less than a month
Recommend Product: NO
I just began testing this app this morning to see how it compared with FontAgent Pro. I was very pleased at first. It seemed to work rather quickly and the interface was nicely designed. HOWEVER, when I checked the "conflicts" set for "fonts with missing printer-font files" I was shocked to see over a thousand conflicting font pairs! After some investigation, I soon realized that FontExplorer had incorrectly sorted Postscript font pairs so that many were no longer correctly linked. These were pristine fonts, most of which came off of the install CDs from varies Adobe applications. They were working perfectly fine in FontAgent Pro. I will be switching back to FontAgent Pro this evening. I should have realized that there was a problem when I discovered that this app does not function with a background process/daemon as a good font manager should... if you close the app, automatic font activation ceases to function. ATM Deluxe and FontAgent Pro work properly as they have a background process that functions in tandem with a foreground manager, (close the ATM Deluxe or FontAgent Pro window and fonts can still be auto-activated) FontExplorer (similar to Suitcase) does not work this way. A shame really... the speed and responsiveness are nice, so how the app was coded works well; however, the overall design (needing to remain open as a foreground app for function) and extremely poor PSt1 type pairing make this a no go. (You can manually find the missing PSt1 font outline, but with over a thousand mis-matched pairs, this isn't a workable solution. Again, I recommend sticking with FAP.)
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Comments
WARNING. Does not reliably sort postscript font pairs! - w i n t e r m u t e
"'(needing to remain open as a foreground app for function)' that is not true as you know it. fex does not need a deamon, it uses the internal osx type server to (de)activate fonts."Ahh... but it does need a background daemon if you use many pro-apps that do not work with Apple's OS X type server auto-activation. FAP has such a daemon, making it (for the time being) a better choice for those using pro-apps. However, it looks like FEX just got updated with support for Illustrator and a couple other apps. I will try it again and revise my opinion if necessary.
"and please report those bugs with the missing printer files to linotype. they could help you. if it is a fex bug, the betatester should have seen it. so looks like a local problem."
FAP did not have any problems with these clean fonts, so it doesn't appear to be a local problem. Apparently, LinoType is aware of the problem... right Tobias?
"an please keep in mind, its still a prerelease."
This is very true. And despite the relatively low rating I gave FEX, I do think it has a lot of promise and am happy to have another viable alternative to Extensis's offerings. I am looking forward to trying out the latest version to see if the problems I mentioned have been addressed.
I encourage everyone to try out this product... but, as with any change to your font manager, back up your font library first.
I am sorry that some people were apparently offended that I gave this new-comer a less than stellar rating. I am just reporting my own experience with the product and rating accordingly. And as I said, it seems to work rather quickly, so if they can fix the bugs, it may well prove to be light years ahead of the competition.
Thursday, December 22 2005 @ 03:22 PM PST
WARNING: Have a look at WINTERMUTEs profile to see his motives - Tobias Meyerhoff
WARNING:What you are writing is simply not true. Do you really think it is a bug if there are problems with certain fonts and FEX shows you what the problem is?!
And FEX does NOT need to be active to work. Simply another concept as other font managers.
And if you really think something is a bug, why don't you simply report it?
Friday, November 18 2005 @ 03:10 AM PST
WARNING: Have a look at WINTERMUTEs profile to see his motives - beerwulf
If the font manager runs across fonts it can't deal with, it's a bug. If it manages to screw up and orphan a thousand printer files, it's a *bad* bug. Spinning it won't make it go away, and it's irresponsible to try.Saturday, November 19 2005 @ 07:55 PM PST
WARNING: Have a look at WINTERMUTEs profile to see his motives - John Sawyer
I looked at wintermute's profile. There's nothing there that reveals his "motives". In his other posts listed in his profile page, all I see is him saying he finds FontAgent Pro works better for him, and that he doesn't like the fact that Extensis bought out Font Reserve.Wednesday, November 23 2005 @ 12:42 PM PST
WARNING: Have a look at WINTERMUTEs profile to see his motives - beerwulf
Could tobiasmyerhoff be one of FEX's developers, I wonder?Thursday, November 24 2005 @ 02:05 PM PST
WARNING: Have a look at WINTERMUTEs profile to see his motives - beerwulf
Just answered my own question. If you look on Linotype's web site, you find this:Your contact:
Tobias Meyerhoff
affiliate@linotype.com
Tel.: +49 6172 484 448
Fax: +49 6172 4845 448
as contact info.
Thursday, November 24 2005 @ 02:07 PM PST
WARNING: Have a look at WINTERMUTEs profile to see his motives - Karsen24
Yep, it looks like Tobias is affiliated with LinoType, and he spends time reading user reviews of his product so he can make the product better and correct ill-informed consumers. Somehow you think this is a bad thing? It only makes me want to use FEX more to know the developer cares enough to answer questions and help customers to such an extent with a FREE product.Thursday, December 22 2005 @ 03:23 PM PST
WARNING: Have a look at WINTERMUTEs profile to see his motives - w i n t e r m u t e
Tobias,Apparently I have offended you for you to think that I have some ulterior motive. I am a professional designer and a OS X systems admin working with macs since 1984. I only reported my experience with the product and rated accordingly... perhaps I was a bit too harsh in my ratings... especially since the product is still in early release and is offered freely. Please accept my apologies to you and your team at LinoType. I do think that FEX has a lot of promise and I look forward to testing out the latest revision to see if it has addressed the problems I experienced. Again, I encourage everyone to try out FEX and judge for themselves... just back-up your data first, just in case.
Thursday, December 22 2005 @ 03:29 PM PST
WARNING. Does not reliably sort postscript font pairs! - albi77
"(needing to remain open as a foreground app for function)" that is not true as you know it. fex does not need a deamon, it uses the internal osx type server to (de)activate fonts.and please report those bugs with the missing printer files to linotype. they could help you. if it is a fex bug, the betatester should have seen it. so looks like a local problem.
an please keep in mind, its still a prerelease.
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Friday, November 18 2005 @ 12:44 AM PST