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I'm a beginning graphics designer and I currently own a Macbook Pro that I got in 2010 that is really on the fritz and basically I need a new computer.

I am comfortable using both Mac's and PC's, so I have no issue there, but I am worried that if I get a PC I won't have access to the fonts that I am used to using on a MAC (e.g. Helvetica, Futura, Gill Sans).

I am wondering what fonts come on a Mac that don't come on a new PC and how much it costs to purchase these fonts?

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There is not much overlap in fonts except for core web fonts (Arial, Georgia, Verdana, Tahoma, Times New Roman, Courier, Comic Sans, Trebuchet).

I think a more important question is which fonts you really NEED, are there acceptable susbstitutions, or what is the cost of replacing those. I doubt you need to have all fonts.

List of fonts installed with OSX

List of fonts installed with Windows

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  • Thank you. Since I am starting out, I'm not sure which fonts I will typically "need", any thoughts from your experience? I am planning on taking more graphic design classes as well.
    – Veridian
    Jan 12, 2015 at 18:24
  • My suggestion is, then, that you start using the fonts available in the computer you will be using. Learn with those. Once you have experience, you will start seeing what kinds of fonts you're missing. The system fonts of either platform are enough for the basics.
    – spiral
    Jan 13, 2015 at 13:14
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    Just to help out. There are a bunch of decent to quite good fonts available for free these days. Check out fontsquirrel.com for a good selection. Another good service if you have the money is typekit.com though it's also included in the Adobe Creative Cloud-service if you're subscribed to that. Both these options will give you a good selection of quality newer fonts. Unfortunately the classic, good ones are more expensive to come by. Though a decent amount is included with Adobe's software.
    – gburning
    Jan 13, 2015 at 15:41
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Helvetica is the most obvious one... but also:

  • Lucida Grande
  • Gill Sans
  • Futura
  • Menlo
  • Monaco
  • Geneva
  • and Helvetica Neue...

Just to name a few of the big ones.

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