Here's an extensive update of a feature I wrote over a year ago. I've added more tips for finding those free fonts on the Web as well as pointers to my reorganized free font links. Type designers, foundries, and distributors like to make money. A lot of businesses give away products in order to get you in their store or to entice you to try their product. You've probably gotten soap and deodorant samples in the mail.
Grocery stores leave samples of meats and cheeses on the counter for customers to taste.
Type designers and foundries do this too. They offer you free fonts as a way to get you to sample the quality of their type. Although I'm offering up a whole alphabet of free fonts found on the Web, I hope that you don't lose sight of the fact that these products are a tiny sampling of what the designers and foundries have available. When you visit one of the sites linked from here don't just grab your free font and run. Visit their galleries of shareware or commercial typefaces.