Why has Adobe become such a pain ?

[Shannow]

I used to be appreciative of Adobe, but last number of months, it's been a royal pain (home and at work).

Open a website that has a PDF, and once or twice a week (might be exaggerating, but it feels that way) it decides that it needs to update.

Browser runs slow, system in general runs slow, PDFs that have nothing to do with the internet lock up the system.

Update Adobe (involves stopping every process that it has ever touched), and all is well until next "update is available".

 

[The_Jeff]

A while back I downloaded acrobat to read a pdf through my browser. Kept crashing things. Turns out I had to open a pdf with the reader, first, to acknowledge a license agreement before it would work other ways.

IIRC Foxit PDF reader is a pretty good alternative.

 

[RnR]

I've come to equate Adobe with Real Media, which once considered itself the be-all-and-end-all of media delivery. They had the same disgusting issue with endless updates in a thinly veiled attempt to embed themselves in your system. I'm not sure if Adobe has the same goal in mind - but it seems like it.

Frankly, I'm open to alternatives.

 

[Pablo]

Just completely remove Adobe Reader from your computer. Install FoxIt. Problem solved.

 

[glum]

I can't stand Adobe Reader for reasons mentioned and more. Switched to PDF-XChange Viewer awhile back and it's great. It's free, fast, well-featured, and has an optional browser plugin. I recently used PDF-XChange Viewer to encrypt a PDF file to email to my CPA. Good stuff.

http://www.tracker-software.com

 

[wallyuwl]

I have Adobe Reader on my system, but lately have been using Nitro PDF. I really like it, except for when I need to download a .pdf usine IE it doesn't work (but does with Firefox, don't get that). I have it as my default .pdf program (reader and writer).

 

[JHZR2]

PDF is native for mac.

 

[SrDriver]

Originally Posted By: glum
I can't stand Adobe Reader for reasons mentioned and more. Switched to PDF-XChange Viewer awhile back and it's great. It's free, fast, well-featured, and has an optional browser plugin. I recently used PDF-XChange Viewer to encrypt a PDF file to email to my CPA. Good stuff.

http://www.tracker-software.com


+1 using PDF-XChange Viewer. Many more features than Foxit.

Too Google Chrome has a built-in PDF reader. PDF files, Flash, and Java are run in a Sandbox in later versions of Google Chrome which is an added security feature.

 

[Mystic]

I tried FoxIt for a while. It was terrible! Endless updates that made Adobe's frequent updates look like nothing in comparison. And I read a report somewhere, in a computer magazine, that malware is now being developed for FoxIt.

I think Adobe does need to develop more secure software. I wish that Microsoft had its own PDF reader software and that PDFs could be created in Microsoft Word and Microsoft Office.

 

[Pablo]

That's odd. I've yet to have an update for FoxIt. I think it works WAY better than Adobe reader. WAY faster. The highlighting is a pain though. And whatever you do, don't opt for the browser Foxit tool bar junk. What a waste.

 

[Mystic]

Maybe they don't have as many updates as when I tried it. I know when I tried it it seemed like everytime I opened up the program there was another update. And some kind of advertising for other stuff. But I can't remember very much about that. The program did work okay, and faster than Adobe Reader. Maybe I got a lot of advertising because I did download the Foxit toolbar.

What really turned me off from the program was when I found out malware was coming out for it just like Adobe Reader. When it became common enough the bad guys started to target it. The two main reasons I started to use Foxit was because it was faster than Adobe Reader, and more secure at the time. But when it became a target also I figured I might as well use Adobe Reader.

 

[Mystic]

I still can't live personally without Adobe Software. I still use Photoshop and I have never been able to find a really good replacement for Photoshop. I wish I didn't have to use Adobe Reader because of all of the security issues, but I don't know if the alternatives are really that much better. I just wish PDFs could be created in Microsoft Word and Office and that Microsoft had its own PDF reader. That never happens.

I guess the best that can be done is keep Adobe software up to date. I have heard that Microsoft may help Adobe develop more secure software. And there may still be a possiblity that Microsoft will acquire Adobe Software.

 

[PandaBear]

I use foxit exclusively until the newer PDF has embedded stuff that it cannot open. I asked foxit and they said it would be the next revision before they can accept it.

 

[RnR]

I yanked Adobe's reader and installed PDFxchange's free edition. I think it's a bit bloated for integrated browser use - but admittedly it's a favorable trade-off.

Thanks for the hint!

 

[SrDriver]

Originally Posted By: Mystic
I still can't live personally without Adobe Software. I still use Photoshop and I have never been able to find a really good replacement for Photoshop. I wish I didn't have to use Adobe Reader because of all of the security issues, but I don't know if the alternatives are really that much better. I just wish PDFs could be created in Microsoft Word and Office and that Microsoft had its own PDF reader. That never happens.

I guess the best that can be done is keep Adobe software up to date. I have heard that Microsoft may help Adobe develop more secure software. And there may still be a possiblity that Microsoft will acquire Adobe Software.


I use the free program for graphics called "The Gimp".

Link to The Gimp

There is a Windows, Linux, and MAC O/S version.

 

[greenaccord02]

The Gimp - that's what we use, too.

 

[Shannow]

I've got Gimp, and it's pretty reasonable (I know nothing else 'though)

I've got foxit now too.