> When Microsoft made TrueType the standard font format for Windows 3.1, they opted to go with Arial rather than Helvetica, probably because it was cheaper
That's a myth. Microsoft paid a lot of money to MonoType, as I believe they needed to task several full-time employees with the manual hinting of those fonts. The deal probably saved the foundry from bankruptcy.
"As to the widespread notion that Microsoft did not want to pay licensing fees, Allan Haley has publicly stated, more than once, that the amount of money Microsoft paid over the years for the development of Arial could finance a small country."
That's a myth. Microsoft paid a lot of money to MonoType, as I believe they needed to task several full-time employees with the manual hinting of those fonts. The deal probably saved the foundry from bankruptcy.
"As to the widespread notion that Microsoft did not want to pay licensing fees, Allan Haley has publicly stated, more than once, that the amount of money Microsoft paid over the years for the development of Arial could finance a small country."
https://www.paulshawletterdesign.com/2011/09/blue-pencil-no-...