[thelist] font inconsistencies in different image apps

[Bob Meetin]

This is not a hot problem know, but more of a standards/expectations 
question.

I had to download a couple fonts, Harrington and Brush Script, for a 
site.  When I use them in either Photoshop or GIMP, they are similar. 
This is fine. Neither have a bold weight option.  Harrington was 
naturally frail, and Brush Script slightly heavy.

The client I was doing the job for was getting a really different look 
with the fonts, but using different apps.  He might have been playing 
with microsoft paint and i believe corel paint shop pro.  The images he 
sent me with Harrington were on the bold side and brush script on the 
slim side.

Just to see for myself, I downloaded the trial version of PSP - and it 
certainly has different options for font weight.  (stroke width). 

Q1: Which is the accepted (industry standard) application to use for text? 
Q2: How do you handle a problem like this?  Do you owe it to the client 
to be able to deliver a specification even if he/she is using a tool 
that might not be using a generally accepted tool?  Like I say, with the 
trial version of PSP I am over the hump.
Q3: Is there something (not obvious) in either GIMP or PhotoShop that my 
bleary eyes might have repeatedly missed? 

-Bob