Some people resist change.

We’re not those guys.

In June we launched Universal Type Server- built from the ground up: all new architecture, all new open source technology, all new UI. Now we’ve taken that same backend technology to the desktop. What you get is a better, faster, funner (?) Suitcase Fusion. Think of the first time you saw a 3D movie. It’s still a movie- but a totally different experience at the same time.

The new back-end means this is not just your average upgrade with some new features. The SQL-database makes it very stable with (much) faster searching, browsing and activation. In addition, a new component- the “core”- is always running in the background- ensuring consistent font management even if you don’t launch the UI. This saves you a LOT of system resources.

Plus, it was built specifically for Leopard and as a result can take advantage of all the whiz-bang capabilities of Leopard: smoother display and high-quality rendering makes the previews truly awesome.

The all-new auto-activation plug-ins are the stars of the production. These are completely re-built as well. Yes, they still leverage FontSense for precise matching and yes, they will auto-activate fonts in linked and embedded objects. But they now also communicate with the core meaning you are have 24/7 activation AND deactivation (why would you not put away your toys to keep the room available for others?).

Suitcase Fusion 2 is planned to ship with the following auto-activation plug-ins:

• Illustrator and InDesign for Adobe CS3 (and beyond)
• QuarkXPress 7 and 8

There’s a lot more- this does not even touch the new UI and whizzy features. So I’ll save that for the next post.

In the meantime, keep your eyes open for the ‘preview’.

Suitcase Fusion 2 premieres Fall 2008.