I noticed today that the font Helvetica (Arial on Windows) is 50 years old and was inspired to create this topic.
Helvetica at 50 article -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6638423.stm
I thought that article about it and other type-faces was interesting... some people want Comic Sans banned!
http://bancomicsans.com/
Personally I'm not to keen on Helvetica/Arial - it looks too bland and letters are very 'round' - but I have used it often. Verdana is better though I think.
I knew someone who swore by 'Bookman Old Style' and it does look quite good when printed out.
I quite like Trebuchet. It's quite neat.
Compare 11 fonts -
http://www.1728.com/fontcore.htm
Compare all fonts on Windows computers (if they are installed) -
http://www.1728.com/fontlttr.htm