[XeTeX] when one needs more than XeTeX+OT fonts? (was: Text output garbled..)

[Kārlis Repsons]

On Friday 15 April 2011 07:32:40 Ulrike Fischer wrote:
> Am Thu, 14 Apr 2011 18:37:40 +0000 schrieb Kārlis Repsons:

> >> The case is different for different font formats: pdftex/latex+dvips
> >> still needs type1 fonts. So removing them could be a problem.
> > 
> > Those, which live within TeXLive installation? Or Type1 as such is
> > considered obsolete/obsoleting??
> 
> I'm not sure I understand the question. Type1 is considered by some
> people as obsolete and in the long run the format will probably
> disappear. But quite a lot pdflatex/latex+dvips and even xelatex
> documents would break if you remove the type1 fonts from texlive.

This far I used only xelatex and was quite happy with what it can produce, so 
I got curious: what is that pdftex, dvi, ps stuff all for, when there is 
xelatex, and pdf viewers are the most common choice?
I realize there ought to be a lot of reason for why they exist, but in simple 
words -- for what use cases would anything more be needed from that company 
where xelatex is?

Likewise (and in relation) -- why are Type1 fonts typically needed? Do they 
have any considerable advantage in printed works?
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