Xref: utzoo comp.lang.postscript:2920 comp.fonts:752
Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!bellcore!buzz!nrh
From: nrh@buzz.bellcore.com (Nathaniel Howard)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript,comp.fonts
Subject: Apple/Adobe font war heats up
Message-ID: <17674@bellcore.bellcore.com>
Date: 21 Sep 89 13:58:59 GMT
Sender: news@bellcore.bellcore.com
Reply-To: nrh@buzz.bellcore.com (Nat Howard)
Followup-To: comp.lang.postscript
Organization: Bell Communications Research, Morristown NJ
Lines: 83

Someone just sent me the AP news article that follows below.  Unfortunately,
the article doesn't mention just what the "valuable technical information"
is -- the most obvious guess is a description of "hints", but that's
just my guess.  My suggestion is that folks following-up avoid guessing:
I agree, it could be anything from revealing the already-revealed 
"eexec" decryption method to the text of the V.50 PostScript interpreter
and the Stone fonts.  I'm guessing -- but only to forestall other 
guesses.

Anyhow, I'm sure this is a "hot button" over at Adobe, so let's not all
of us jump on Glenn demanding to know what the information  is (if he
can tell us, I'm sure he will), but perhaps someone attended the
Seybold conference?

I've directed followups to comp.lang.postscript

^PM-Adobe-Apple, Bjt,0574<
^Adobe Strikes Back in Battle Over Computer Typefaces<
^By PETER COY=
^AP Business Writer=
	   NEW YORK (AP) _ Adobe Systems Inc. is hoping to keep Apple
Computer Inc. from stealing its thunder in a battle over typefaces
that has the computer industry's biggest names choosing sides.
	   Adobe said Wednesday it would take the unusual step of making
public some valuable technical information about the way its
PostScript software creates letters, numbers and other figures on a
page.
	   That step, while helping Adobe's competitors, should confirm the
Adobe system as an industry standard and deal a blow to a joint
effort by Apple and Microsoft Corp. to create a new standard,
analysts said.
	   The seemingly obscure battle will affect the course of desktop
publishing, which makes it possible for personal computer owners to
create professional-looking documents and publications using special
software and laser printers.
	   John Warnock, Adobe's chairman, chief executive and co-founder,
announced the decision to publish PostScript specifications in an
emotional speech at a conference in San Francisco.
	   He said he feared Apple's unspecific plans for new software
amounted to ``vaporware'' that could jeopardize a valuable existing
standard.
	   Steve Jobs of Next Inc. lined up on the side of Adobe at the
Seybold Computer Publishing Conference and Exposition, while Bill
Gates of Microsoft sided with Apple.
	   ``This is like a soap opera. It's melodrama at its best,'' Bill
McGlynn, marketing manager for the Boise printer division of
Hewlett-Packard Co., said in a telephone interview from the
conference.
	   An agreed-upon standard makes things easier for makers of
computers, printers and new typefaces as well as computer users.
With Adobe's announcement, companies that already use PostScript may
decide to stick with it instead of spending their efforts on the
Apple-Microsoft plans, analysts said.
	   ``A lot of people think this is a very good move,'' said David
Nelson, an analyst at Shearson Lehman Hutton Inc. He said customers
attending the conference ``overwhelmingly'' indicated in a show of
hands that they would stick with Adobe.
	   Adobe's stock was hurt Wednesday by the Apple-Microsoft
combination, which came after the close of trading Tuesday, but
helped by Adobe's counterploy. It closed the day off 37{ cents at
$19.75 in over-the-counter trading.
	   Adobe, of Mountain View, Calif., rose rapidly in recent years to
dominate the software that goes into laser printers and controls
their output.
	   Apple, which had been Adobe's biggest customer, signalled its
intention to go its own way earlier this year when it sold its 16
percent stake in Adobe.
	   Apple and Microsoft, which are battling each other in an
unrelated copyright suit, set aside their differences Tuesday to
announce they would swap technology on advanced printer fonts. The
plan is for Macintosh computers and IBM-type computers using
Microsoft base software to have identical font capabilities.
	   Gates, the Microsoft chairman, said the plan is to improve upon
PostScript. But he acknowledged that the improvements could render
the two sets of software incompatible.
	   Jonathan Seybold, the host of the San Francisco conference,
predicted that the first software from that alliance would not be
shipped before 1991.
	   Adobe's president, Charles Geschke, said in a phone interview
that the company had planned to publish the PostScript
specifications within a matter of months anyway but speeded up its
plans in hopes of keeping the industry standard from splitting.
	   AP-NR-09-21-89 0214EDT<