Core fonts for the Web

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Core fonts for the Web was a project started by Microsoft in 1996 to make a standard pack of fonts for the Internet. The project was terminated in August 2002. However, the EULA on the font packages allowed redistribution as long as the packages were kept in their original format and with their original filename, and they were not used to add value to commercial products. As a result, they are still available for download on third-party websites.

For Windows, the fonts are provided as standard executables, however they each include an embedded cabinet file, which can be extracted with appropriate software. This fact allows the fonts to be used on operating systems such as Linux, as long as they are distributed in original form. For the Macintosh, the files are provided as BinHexed Stuff-It archives.

Even though the fonts are legally available from SourceForge and other Web sites and are included with Mac OS, Håkon Wium Lie, CTO of Opera Software, cited that the cancellation of the Web Core Fonts project is an example of Microsoft avoiding interoperability. [1]

On April 11, 2005, Ascender Corporation reached an agreement with Microsoft, which enabled Ascender to distribute Microsoft Fonts, including the Windows Core Fonts, the Microsoft Web Fonts and the many multilingual fonts currently supplied by Microsoft. Each regular font is sold for $20-30.