Is otf well established enough now that people can just click to install? I’ve not messed with them for awhile, but they used to be enough of a pain to get working that I wouldn’t recommend them to random people who were asking basic questions.
I’ve never had any problems myself and I think they’re well supported by all recent (and even not that recent) operating systems. But fair point - if you want maximum compatibility and aren’t going to use OTF’s advanced features then TTF is fine.
There’s some nice subtle differences (beyond the many-hundreds-of-dollars in licensing fees). Public Sans on top, Helvetica Neue on bottom:
Public has an old-style g, which I appreciate. It adds the little hook on the lowercase L, which besides being kinda stylish, fixes one of the old dumb problems with Helvetica – that the lowercase L is the exact same thing as the uppercase I. The lowercase t has an interesting little angle on the top-left straight bit. Public also has stronger cut-ins in spots where curves meet straight bits, which helps it stay readable at smaller sizes. For a free font, I actually prefer this as a Helvetica upgrade to the actual Helvetica upgrade also announced today.
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