Adobe Reader 9.....what's new?

Wedge · Post by **Wedge** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 1:04 pm

I sometimes post here for opinions on software. This is one of those times. What does Reader 9 bring with it that might encourage me to switch to it from Reader 8?

FartingBob · Post by **FartingBob** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 1:16 pm

What you have to ask yourself is: Has adobe managed to add even more bloat to a pdf reader? Last time i checked the install came to well over 100mb!

From wikipedia:

Adobe Acrobat 9.0 was announced officially in June 2008 for availability in July 2008: [8] [9]

* Product Family includes: Acrobat Standard 9, Acrobat Pro 9, Acrobat Pro Extended 9
* Extended Version includes Adobe Presenter and Adobe LiveCycle Designer ES
* Enable real-time collaboration of PDFs with synchronized document views and chat
* Improved Web Capture for capturing entire web pages or just some parts into PDF
* Integration with acrobat.com to enable storage and sharing of PDF files
* Users can put flash into PDF
* Personalize a PDF Portfolio with customizable templates for navigation and branding
* Compare and highlight the differences between two versions of a PDF document
* Insert FLV or H.264 video for direct playback in Adobe AcrobatÂ® and Adobe Reader
* Convert a variety of video formats to FLV for playback in PDF
* Create PDF maps by importing geospatial files that retain metadata and coordinates
* Adobe Reader 9 drops support for Adobe Reader Extensions 5 and 6 which permit Adobe Reader client software to save changes to filled-in forms in PDFs. Adobe Reader Extensions 6.1 and newer are still supported. Legacy PDFs will still be viewable, however they will open with the warning "This document enables Reader capabilities that are no longer enabled in this Reader version." [10]

Wedge · Post by **Wedge** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 1:40 pm

I'm speaking strictly of the Reader. The file downloaded from Downloads.com (as of 7/4/08 ) amounts to 33.4MB, unless this is just a setup file that downloads the other 67MB during the install process?

Vicotnik · Post by **Vicotnik** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 2:41 pm

I use Foxit Reader myself. Less bloat than Acrobat Reader. Give it a try.

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

zoatebix · Post by **zoatebix** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 6:33 pm

I've got Foxit, PDF XChange viewer, and Adobe Reader (with the "helper" app disabled) installed. For a while, I was using PDF XChange all the time, but I've switched back to Foxit as my default reader.

croddie · Post by **croddie** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 8:21 pm

Many pdfs do not display correctly in Foxit. And the rendering even of text is not as good (does it not interface properly with cleartype?).
I like Adobe reader. In old versions it was very sluggish but since version 7 (I think) has been responsive.
I have no problems with it taking up memory as memory is cheap and document reading is important to me.
I didn't like 8 so much because of the bar on the left which reduces screen space for reading, but 9 can be easily set up to make efficient use of space.

tehcrazybob · Post by **tehcrazybob** » Sat Jul 05, 2008 11:46 am

I don't like the bloat of Adobe Reader, but I have to say it's got two features I really do like. It can use GPU rendering, and it runs in a web browser. I used Foxit for a year or so, but got tired of opening a separate program for PDF files. I'll go back when browser integration catches up.

No idea what's new with 9, though.

Matija · Post by **Matija** » Sat Jul 05, 2008 12:08 pm

Found this through Digg: http://blog.micropledge.com/2008/07/adobe-reader-9/

nutball · Post by **nutball** » Sat Jul 05, 2008 12:21 pm

tehcrazybob wrote:I don't like the bloat of Adobe Reader, but I have to say it's got two features I really do like. It can use GPU rendering, and it runs in a web browser. I used Foxit for a year or so, but got tired of opening a separate program for PDF files. I'll go back when browser integration catches up.

Well my experience of AR integration in FF has been that it tends to hang the browser completely while the document loads, which is rather annoying.

I don't know if this is the fault of AR, FF, or Windows, and at some level I don't really care -- it's neither what I expect nor desire from a multi-threaded app on a multi-tasking operating system, so the fleas of a thousand camels can infect all their armpits as far as I'm concerned.

glow · Post by **glow** » Sat Jul 05, 2008 2:54 pm

I am using the previous mentioned PDF XChange viewer for my PDF. Very fast.

seemingly.random · Post by **seemingly.random** » Sat Jul 05, 2008 7:04 pm

I'm pretty sure that the browser hangs that I experience are adobe related. I can't tell if they're mainly the reader or flash. I recently disabled all flash and haven't had any hangs or 80-90% cpu usage problems. I tried to run without flash installed on the pc but the nagging required user input and was quite annoying. I'm using ie7 and ie7pro in vista.

I've found that when downloading multi-mb pdf's, it's wise to not mess with that browser - the reader downloader seems to make things fragile.

I'll probably continue using the reader since it's inconvenient to pop out of the browser to view a downloaded pdf - most of which get discarded anyhow.