EOT Fonts

The EOT font format is for displaying typefaces on web pages that users would not normally have installed on their local computers. Fonts are converted to the EOT format and uploaded to the website by the webmaster. When viewers load the web page in their browser, the EOT fonts are downloaded into a temporary folder similar to how other temporary files are downloaded and stored (graphics files, html files, etc.).  The browser uses the fonts from this temporary storage area to display them on the web page. The EOT fonts are encrypted to prevent them from being used for any other purpose. This prevents a font from being used on a web site other than the one it was licensed for.

Browser Support

The EOT font technology was developed by Microsoft along with the release of Internet Explorer 4 and has continued support going forward for later versions of Internet Explorer. Currently, Microsoft Internet Explorer is the only browser to support the EOT font format.

Our Comments

While the EOT font format goes a long way for web designers to have more freedom to use more typefaces than just the basic web fonts (Arial, Times New Roman, Georgia, Courier New, Trebuchet, Verdana, Andale Mono), it is not a complete solution. There are many other browsers – Firefox, Opera, Google Chrome, etc. The ideal solution would be one that is supported by all browsers – similar to CSS.

More Information

Linotype has a web page with a complete FAQ and more details here: http://www.linotype.com/en/5926/eotfonts.html