The Potential of Web Typography

Ian Lynam and Craig Mod, two designers based out of Tokyo, have posted a primer on the new CSS @font-face rule implemented in Firefox 3.5. Their primer gives a detailed overview of how to take advantage of this new feature and is itself an impressive demonstration of what's possible.

Linking to TrueType and OpenType fonts is not an entirely new feature.  It has been available since Safari 3.1 and is another example of how successful Safari has been at forcing everyone else to follow its lead with new CSS features. 

Perhaps the greatest benefit of font-linking is that it makes well-designed, internationalized websites possible.  Many languages lack font support, so the use of @font-face is critical to enable fonts that support advanced features such as text shaping.  Mozilla hacks provides a more detailed discussion of this feature.