[XeTeX] support for variation & multiple master fonts

[Simon Spiegel]

>
> Adobe has dropped support for MM, as it did for FrameMaker on the  
> Apple OS
> too - this is relevant in this sense that FrameMaker was the only
> proprietary software application that could compete with the  
> different TeX
> distributions in managing large documents. Adobe seems to leave its
> long-standing cooperation with Apple and welcomes the new  
> partnership with
> Microsoft.

As much as I regret the decline of FrameMaker, I think your analysis  
is wrong. Adobe lost interest in Framemaker about the moment they  
bought it. Framemaker hasn't seen any significant update since  
version 5.5 and the only reason they continue it on Windows is  
because they can do that with little ressources. Porting Framemaker  
to OSX would have actually meant to invest something and Adobe wasn't  
ready to do that. I doubt the situation would have been any different  
if a similar transition on the Windows side had been necessary. Adobe  
has declared Framemaker dead quite a while ago.
>
> The OpenType format is just the most evident outcome of this new  
> alliance.
> OpenType is not being developed with Apple, precisely because Apple  
> plans to
> further develop its own GX font technology. So, I doubt that Apple has
> definitely given up its AAT, though it may be true that for the  
> next couple
> of years we will hear nothing about that.

I don't think that's true either. Tiger hasn't seen any serious  
update to AAT, instead we got improved OT support. There are almost  
no AAT fonts available, so I highly doubt Apple will continue on this  
track.
>

--
Simon Spiegel
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"I have never been certain that the moral of the Icarus myth is, as  
is generally accepted, 'don't fly too high', or whether it might also  
be thought of as: 'forget about the wax and feathers, and do a better  
job on the wings." Stanley Kubrick