Since I recently upgraded to a new MacPro and with it Leopard 10.5.6 - I wanted to make sure fonts were handled as best they could. Had a search about and found an indepth article on how to strip out unwanted system fonts, and others installed by Microsoft Office and Adobe. The author goes into detail regarding how best to remove Helvetica and Helvetica Neue .dfonts.
http://www.jklstudios.com/misc/osxfonts.html
Once I'd stripped out everything that I didn't need (kept for safe keeping) and loaded my work font collection, I used FontDoctor to examine and fix any font issues. Using Linotype FontExplorer Pro to manage my fonts - plus its a really well written and good looking piece of software.
I think Templeton's link suggesting switching over from type-1 version's of Helvetica (and others) makes good sense. At least for all future work. For the sake of a system that runs smoothly I've opted to leave the .dfonts in place to run alongside new easily recognizable open-type versions. For the jobs that would get into all kinds of a mess without the type1 helv's then I'll remove system fonts. However where ever and when ever I can, I'll begin to update older work. - Besides, its not like we all use Helvetica for everything... is it?
(The following taken from the above linked article)
Fonts that should never be removed
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
AppleGothic.ttf
Geneva.dfont
Helvetica.dfont
HelveticaNeue.dfont
HelveLTMM
Helvetica LT MM
Keyboard.dfont
LastResort.dfont
LucidaGrande.dfont
MarkerFelt.dfont (for the Notes portion of Mail)
Monaco.dfont
Times LT MM
TimesLTMM
Fonts that are good to keep around
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Arial.ttf
Arial Bold.ttf
Arial Italic.ttf
Arial Bold Italic.ttf
Arial Black.ttf
Arial Narrow.ttf
Arial Narrow Bold.ttf
Arial Narrow Italic.ttf
Arial Narrow Bold Italic.ttf
Comic Sans MS.ttf
Comic Sans MS Bold.ttf
Trebuchet MS.ttf
Trebuchet MS Bold.ttf
Trebuchet MS Italic.ttf
Trebuchet MS Bold Italic.ttf
Verdana.ttf
Verdana Bold.ttf
Verdana Italic.ttf
Verdana Bold Italic.ttf
Tahoma.ttf
Tahoma Bold.ttf
Webdings.ttf
