Cambridge, MA — (press release excerpt) — Bitstream Inc. announced today the product release of btX, a premier font server for Linux. btX gives Linux the same font presentation as that found on the Macintosh and on Windows. With btX, developers can render hinted, anti-aliased, and kerned characters, producing great looking text on screen.

Most importantly, btX renders not only high-quality characters in industry-standard TrueType and Type 1 formats, but also high-quality text in compact PFR (portable font resource, an industry-standard format) and stroke-based Asian font formats. Bitstream btX supports Unicode encoding and can render international fonts.

Besides the font subsystem, this product release of btX includes a core set of 13 delta-hinted, TrueType screen fonts. Delta hinting involves fine tuning fonts so that they look good on the screen, even at small point sizes on low-resolution devices, such as computer monitors.

The 13 typefaces designs match the core set of 13 fonts that ship with Microsoft Windows. In addition, the fonts are set on widths that match those found in Microsoft operating systems, guaranteeing that developers can give Linux the same font presentation as that found on Windows. Users can therefore take documents created on Windows and use them in the same Linux applications, giving users the same results on screen and printouts.

Delta-hinted fonts assure the digital clarity of text no matter where it is being displayed. The fonts are targeted for use in applications and devices that rely on the digital displaying of information at low resolutions or small sizes, such as computer screens, handheld devices, embedded systems, and so on.

The core set of delta-hinted fonts include:

• Courier 10 (roman, italic, bold, and bold italic)
  
• Dutch 801 (roman, italic, bold, and bold italic)
  
• Swiss 721 (roman, italic, bold, and bold italic)
  
• Symbol Set

“Bitstream, the leader in font technology, has developed a premier font subsystem for Linux. btX includes Font Fusion, a high-quality, fast font engine, including the fastest TrueType rasterizer on the market,” said Anna Chagnon, President of Bitstream.
“btX can render eight font formats — not just two — including compact fonts that can fit in embedded Linux devices where space and memory are at a premium. For the first time, btX includes a set of high-quality designs hinted for the screen, allowing developers to emulate the display of text in Windows. This will enable users to take a document from Windows and use it on a Linux system with the same results. This is a win-win situation for Linux developers and users alike.”

 
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