Windows uses both bitmap (raster) and TrueType (vector, scalable) fonts. The bitmap font files have an FON extension and the TrueType fonts have a TTF extension. The OpenType fonts also have a TTF extension. The three types can be distinguished in Control Panel/Fonts by their icons. The TrueType have "TT" inscribed, the OpenType have an "O", and the bitmapped fonts have a red "A" inscribed as in the following screenshot:
To access the installed fonts in Windows, go to Control Panel and double-click “Fonts”. You will see all the True Type (vector) fonts listed with a small icon with a blue “TT” at the left, and all the Bitmap fonts listed with a small icon with a red “A” on the left.
If you actually look in the Windows\Fonts folder using Windows Explorer - the truetype font files have the extension “ttf” and the bitmap font files have the extension “fon”. To see the Font folder and files, you must open Explorer, then go to “Tools/Folder Options/View tab” . . . and then check the radio button that says “Show hidden folders and files”.
NOTE: some FON files are used by Windows' systems functions and must not be removed.
Bitmapped Fonts - the "fon" files
The Windows font files with the "fon" extension, are bitmap fonts (raster fonts). They are called System Fonts, Display Fonts, and Screen Fonts. These old, outdated files never seem to go away - for example, WinXP comes with approx 173 "fon" files !!! There are also “fnt” and “fot” files which we will not discuss. Fon files are “raster” (bitmap) fonts and are also called "OEM Fonts" and some are definitely necessary for system fonts.
The odd thing is that you never see them in the Fonts folder, since they are always kept hidden by Windows. A few do show up for some reason, but 99% remain hidden. You can view the list of fon files as follows:
open a DOS box
cd \windows\fonts
attrib *.fon –h
dir
So far we have mentioned the many shortcomings of bitmapped fonts, and covered the advantages of scalable (vector) True Type fonts. So why on earth does Windows continue to use them ? The reason is their simplicity.
True Type fonts are powerful, flexible, and scalable. But for the basic system messages and display – you want the opposite . . . reliability and commonality. In addition, most bitmapped fonts are fixed-width, and fixed pitch (monospaced) which is desirable with terminal-based applications.
Since bitmap fonts are very basic and stable,Windows uses them for it’s “System” and “Display” fonts. They were there from the beginning, and they are very simplistic, and therefore require few resources to display. True Type fonts – on the other hand - require mathematical processing to calculate size, antialiasing, etc. There is no need to waste CPU cycles on the desktop display, Dialog boxes, and error messages.
Windows also uses bitmap fonts for terminal and emulation programs, such as DOS boxes and IBM mainframe keyboard emulators.
The idea is to present the user with the same font that they are used to seeing, and to make sure that characters line up precisely in columns, in case the program will be drawing ASCII pics or creating menus from fixed-width characters.
How to Access and use the fon Fonts (bitmapped fonts)
You can't. They are only used for the Desktop, error messages, DOS boxes, terminal emulators, etc. - but NOT BY WINDOWS APPLICATIONS !! For that you will need to use True Type fonts. Web browsers will not display bitmapped fonts either. The bitmap fonts are not usually printable, so the apps do not support them !! For example, Word does not show bitmap fonts – it only shows “printable” fonts, which include all the True Type fonts, along with any additional fonts that are installed in the Printer, and Post Script fonts if Adobe Type Manager has been installed.
A DOS box is simply an MS-DOS simulation created by Windows – it runs within a Windows, or “box”, and uses the resident VGA hardware font, which is a monospaced font. Windows can use raster or vector (truetype) fonts for this emulation.
The Truetype font is normally Lucida Console - provided in the file LUCON.TTF. The raster font is the “Terminal font” - from the file VGAOEM.FON or 8514OEM.FON.