GARY30  I have been considering what to do about my fonts with Snow Leopard. I have been using FontExplorer 1.2.3, but it will not work with Snow Leopard. I have really tried to work with Apple's own Font Book, but it seems to do weird things like show fonts as available even though I have deactivated them, and crashes sometimes when moving fonts between collections, etc. This sort of thing leads to corrupt caches and even a corrupt fb.db file from time to time, necessitating too much fiddling for my taste.

Enter Fontcase. It really is the font library equivalent to iPhoto. It manages fonts by simply copying them out of the application's package archive (vault) into the ~/LibraryFonts/ folder. Yes you can do this yourself, just as you can open Terminal and perform a variety of system maintenance tasks that various shareware utilities do for you. If that's you, then go for it. That's not me. I like a GUI. I like simplicity, and I prefer not to have background processes running all the time as is the case with Fontcase's pay-to-play competitors. So I like Fontcase. It costs a little more than I want to spend and I have seen a couple of transient display anomalies. However, it offers a full-featured 15 day trial, the developer seems to be on top of things, and I see myself coughing up the cash.  
(Version 1.2)

AETH  This software shows a lot of promise. It's strength is a fantastic UI, flexible tagging and excellent organization options - drastically better than the all the others I have tried so far (Suitcase Fusion, Font Agent Pro, Font Explorer X). It's weakness is that the way it handles activation is somewhat inflexible and will not suit everyone's needs. Also, applications often need to be restarted for newly activated fonts to appear and there are a few other bugs to be ironed out still.

So far its suiting my personal needs quite well and I'd recommend that anyone new to the world of font managers to give it a trial. Those used to the more in-depth activation options of Fusion/FAP/FEX may find it too different (as opposed to limited) in comparison. One to watch.  
(Version 1.1.1)

FVDG  Oh, wait a minute!

I got a dialog warning that was from.. Apples own type utility!!

Then I took a closer look at my folders with fonts...

Fontcase does nothing else then copying the fonts you want to your users library!!

It is NO real font manager, it is an interface to Apples own build in Font cataloque.

Well, I feel mislead.

Money back I should say.

This is a LOT of money for a simple copy/replace programm!!!  
(Version 1.0.3)

FVDG  Nah, NEVER use auto activation. In my opinion no professional should. The firms I do training for with font servers also forbid auto activation. Activate sets, that's where sets are for. You need control over what is activated and deactivated.

One remark however: I found that (the same case in Suitcase Fusion 2 and the new commercial FontExplorer X), if you have sets that have fonts in it that are also in your user libary, and you deactivate that set, this user library fonts get deactivated also!

I want my fonts in (system/user) to be left alone...

Fontagent Pro is the only one that does this the correct way  
(Version 1.0.3)

KINGADROCK  Nice application with a clean and intuitive interface, but without auto-activation it's pretty useless to me. Spending several minutes at a time to manually locate and activate fonts before beginning to work on a project is not practical. Add auto-activation and you've got something here.  
(Version 1.0.3)

DMARCOOT  Beautiful app. Smart folders and meta tagging make this app wonderful. Wish it had import options from Suitcase Fusion.   
(Version 1.0.1)

FVDG  Simple, elegant. Love the preview options (text vs. waterfall).

I NEVER use auto-activation, so this programm is all I need. Works like a charm here on my Mac Pro.

Only wish: auto de-activate when quiting the programm!  
(Version 1.0)

MATHGEEK  Well, it crashed the first time I tried it, but fortunately it didn't seem to screw anything up. I think I will wait for version 1.1.   
(Version 1.0)

GCOGHILL  I was testing the beta, and now trying out the 1.0 release. A few observations from a fairly large (1200+) font collection:

• Smart Folders do not auto-update (need to click away then back for them to update).

• There are no number counts next to sets, collections, etc. (not sure if this is a big deal or not).

• Generating previews as you scroll through the app slows things down.

• Can't seem to find a way to use the font name as the preview text.

• Font Explorer X sets import, but the fonts weren't placed into them.

There are some nice features to Fontcase — the body text & headline previews are handy for sure. And the compare feature is nice with body/headline tabs. it's definitely a step up from the OS X Font Book (and maybe the target buyer) but it still seems to have small oversights throughout the functionality.

Not sure if this is ready to use in a professional workflow just yet, but it seems the devs are serious about this app and it's one to keep an eye on. I am curious to see where this progresses.  
(Version 1.0)

DOUG S.  To start with, I've been using this as a piece of beta software ever since it went public a little while ago so I've watched this app evolve from a rough app to a very fine and sophisticated Mac application.

From the very beginning the developers have worked very hard to squash any and all bugs and have always been very good about dealing with any and all feedback. There were even a few times when they changed things and would specifically ask for the input of their users.

In terms of features, it has all the ones you expect and more. Beyond groups there are smart-groups and tags, two things that are extremely handy. Also, like iTunes, it allows you to fully edit all the info about individual fonts and families just as you would an album.

I really can't say enough good things about this program. I have noticed the occasional issue with stability during the beta phase but it was a beta at the time and now everything seems rock solid.

And then of course there's how the app looks. My guess is if you're looking at a program to manage all your fonts you likely work in some design-related industry. If so then it's always an added bonus when apps look pretty and boy does this one! It fits in perfectly with the rest of OS X while still having it's own unique styling. And when compared to the competition which all look like they were designed by a Microsoft developer... Well, you see my point.

Besides with Font Explorer now coasting $78 (after mid-February), FontAgent Pro costing $99 and Extensis Suitcase costing $99 it's also the cheapest font manager on the market.  
(Version 1.0)