last week the latest system ox was installed on my computer (panther, cheetah, bobcat, whatever) and now all of the helvetica in my e-mail program and some online stuff shows up in fractions.

i'll wait for my answer but i don't think the smart people show up until mid weekday morning.

does this mean that only the dumb ones are here right now?

Did you do an upgrade or a fresh install? I just installed OS X ver 10.4. on all four of my Macs. There are documented issues with the plain OS X install and you will need to make sure that you get all the latest updates.

Is Softeare Updater turned on? if not you will want to turn it on in preferences. this will go and find all the latest software for your sysytem.

it was a fresh install and the updater is on.
i just updated something last night.
it's probably a goddamn font issue which i always seem to be having.

what do you use to manage your fonts?

I have been a long time user of Font Reserve. I found it to be more robust than Suitcase. Another reason is that I hate Extensis as a company because they steal other peoples ideas. But it's a moot issue since they are both owned by Extensis now.

Have you treid the following

Printed an email with the wierd font?
try to use the same font in another app(s)
If the font does the same thing in other apps then it's probably the font and you should replace it. If it only does it in the mail app try to manually check the application's web site for updates.

I have had lots of problems with older fonts I brought over with OS 9 and earier fonts. I had to go through and dump a bunch of them because they kept doing odd things when I activated them in Font Reserve. Or I had to keep re-installing them after they kept getting corrupted every few months.

You need to update the font version type for Helvetica. I had to do the same thing when I upgraded my OS X. I just copied a version from someone who wasn't having the Helvetica issue and it's been fine since.

Gotta love geeks.

Yes please.

More is better.

I'm waiting to meet a nice one to take home.

i always say....
i'm looking for a computer-intelligent/auto mechanically inclined gentleman with a nice beard to share my life with.

If you're not careful he may overclock your processor. Then your Aux input port may not function properly again.

I'd prefer he check my I/O.

Isn't that a geeky gyn?

Ayah, did you get this figured out?

yes, i think so.
i disabled helvetica fractions and that did the trick but i do have to go through my fonts and take care of some duplicate problems. there are helveticas running rampant everywhere and i'm never sure what to get rid of.

right now i'm using font book because it came with the computer. i'm using font browser at my freelance gig and i like that a little better.

we'll see how it works.
font management is such a pain in the arse for me.

thanks everyone.

Ayah you asked what I use...Here are some links:
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/1694
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/16950
I've used both. One is good for repair and the other is for mgmt. If I had to choose one it would be FontReserve.

Hope this helps.

this is so cool.

the font reserve says it's for osx.3.
i'm using x.4.3.
will this work for me?

thanks chowgurt.

I'm running Ver 3.1.4 on my Powerbook with OS X 10.4.3
And haven't had any problems. I've been using it off and on for about eight years now and have been very happy. Used to use Suitcase then switched.