Windows CE supports raster and TrueType font technologies but allows only one type to be used on a specified system. The choice of TrueType or raster font types is made when the system is designed, and cannot be changed afterwards by an application.
The differences between raster and TrueType fonts have to do with the way the glyph for each character or symbol is stored in the respective font-resource file. A raster font glpyh is a tiny bitmap that represents a single character's size. Because the bitmaps for each glyph in a raster font are designed for a specific resolution on a particular device, raster fonts are generally considered to be device dependent.
A TrueType font glyph contains outlines and hints. Windows CE uses these hints to adjust the outlines used to draw the glyphs. These hints and the respective adjustments are based on the amount of scaling used to reduce or increase the size of the glyph. Because TrueType characters can be scaled up or down and still retain their original appearance, they are considered to be device-independent.
A font's glyphs are stored in a font-resource file. A font-resource file for a raster font is stored in a .fon file. TrueType fonts have two files, a short .fot header file, and a .ttf file that contains the actual data.