Adobe Reader 9.2

[Chim]

Do any of y'all have this ... especially those with Windows XP?
What's you all's Review / opinion?  Any problems?  Does it Suck?

I Googled for some Reviews on it and from what I saw, there seemed to be more negative Reviews on it.  What's this about you can no longer print with this version?

I have Adobe Reader 6.0.1 and very rarely use it.  But, I keep hearing to update to the latest of whatever software Apps to cover all security vulnerabilities.

But, if it's gonna have a much bigger footprint and cause Lockups & Crashes, I doubt it be worth upgrading to it for the little that I use it.

[YoKenny]

If you just need a pdf file viewer then Foxit Reader is OK but make sure you don't install its toolbar.

[dansorin]

updating a software is a very good ideea. but you can use something else instead of adobe reader, an excellent choice is Foxit pdf reader. not resource hungry, very fast and free. that's an example.

[spg SCOTT]

Hi Chim,

I imagine that you will find that many people here will not be using adobe reader...knowing some of them

Personally I don't use it either, but instead, I use Foxit Reader Portable as I can just delete the folder it is contained if I want to remove it...

Anyway, I see what you mean, definitely something going on...
http://download.cnet.com/Adobe-Reader/3640-10743_4-11113433-2.html

My opinion would be to remove it, and save the vulnerabilities, (and maybe use another one...) or update it...

-Scott-

[DavidR]

I gave up on Adobe reader many years ago as for what is meant to be just a PDF reader it is very bloated. Add to that it is a massive target for malware always on the lookout for new vulnerabilities to exploit.

If you are going to use Adobe Reader at all then it should be the latest version, no question. Personally if you only worried about bloat, stick with what you have and deal with any security consequences. Or you can go with the likes of FoxIt PDF reader, which is much smaller, I feel more secure, not only because it is a smaller target, but if there are any issues they have so far been updated promptly.

[JuninhoSlo]

If you just need a pdf file viewer then Foxit Reader is OK but make sure you don't install its toolbar.

I also use Foxit Reader.

[Chim]

Thanks for your reviews.  Wow!  It's a unanimous FoxIt Reader contingent here.
I tried FoxIt Reader last year and I recall there was something about it that didn't work for me.  As per my foggy recollection, I believe it was something like that it would NOT render images very well.  The resolution was less than stellar.  That and / or it was displaying Tables / Spreadsheets at a noticeably inferior manner vs. Adobe Reader.  Stuff like that really bugs me.

For example, Opera Browser has Turbo that someone like me with Dial Up can enable to speed up my navigation.  Yeah, at the expense of image quality.  So, I obviously pass on Opera Turbo.

Hmmm?  I wonder ... maybe I could compromise.  I could update my Adobe Reader 6.0.1 to 7.0.  On the few rare occasions that I use Adobe Reader, I am always getting prompted to update.  I just didn't know what the latest / highest was that I could update Adobe Reader for my Windows XP.

One reason I'd want to update is to see if MAYBE with a higher version, I can read the PDF of the latest AV Comparatives.  When I tried to bring it up with my current Adobe Reader, I kept getting an error.  I THINK something about some dictionary not encrypted or some BS.

[DavidR]

I have 'never' had an issue with display of pdfs or the contents using FoxIt reader.

If you are talking about using any plug-in so that you can display the pdf file whilst browsing, I never do and I suggest that you follow the same principal. Why I hear you ask, initiating a PDF within your browser to me could lead to exploitation as the interaction with the browser plug-in is more of a risk than downloading the pdf and viewing it.

I would say this is even more of a risk if using Adobe as there is more potential for a) it being a bigger target and b) there seems to be more exploit issues.

I viewed the last av-comparatives pdf report without issue (off-line not through the browser).

[CharleyO]

***

Hi Chim,

You might also want to try coolPDFreader at the link below.

http://www.pdf2exe.com/reader.html

9 reasons to use coolPDFreader :

It is free
View and Print PDF
Convert PDF to BMP, JPG, GIF, PNG, WMF, EMF, EPS
Extract PDF to TXT
Support PDF files of all versions
Work with 68+ different languages
Zoom in/out and Rotate page displays
Slide show PDF document with full screen
Small in size, only 650KB


***

[YoKenny]

@ Chim

Running with only 256MB RAM on a Celeron will reduce speed and make Foxit Reader not render images very well.

[Chim]

If you are talking about using any plug-in so that you can display the pdf file whilst browsing, I never do and I suggest that you follow the same principal. Why I hear you ask, initiating a PDF within your browser to me could lead to exploitation as the interaction with the browser plug-in is more of a risk than downloading the pdf and viewing it.

It's interesting that yesterday I clicked to download the PDF avast User's Guide.  I sure thought it was going to ... well, download the User's Guide in typical fashion, as in giving me the option of to which Folder I wanted to download the PDF.  To my surprise, the PDF User's Guide just started downloading right there in an Opera Tab.    From there I then saved it to My Documents.

[DavidR]

So it looks like Opera has a pdf plug-in to display the file in a tab, these plug-in are normaly user installed. So I would check and disable this plug-in or stop the default action to load into a browser tab.

[Chim]

I can't remember if I tried coolPDFreader last year.  But, it's possible that I did and got similar results to FoxIt Reader.  I'll read up on it and see if I get tempted enough to try it.

I guess it's possible that as YoKenny says, FoxIt Reader and possibly other Non-Adobe Reader PDF Readers might NOT work well with my extremely underpowered 256 Meg of RAM / Celeron-based computer.

[Chim]

Yeah, Opera probably does have some Setting to where I can change it and have it SAVE a PDF instead of displaying it.  I just don't happen to know where it is right now.  Especially since like I said, I very rarely deal with PDFs.

[scythe944]

Isn't the "View PDF in browser" setting in adobe itself?

I still use adobe, haven't had any problems with it.  Most of my clients don't know the difference between a pdf and a hole in the ground, but they know adobe.  I wouldn't want to go install coolpdf or foxit on the 500 or so machines that I manage between all the sites that I work at.

Anyway, it's the default pdf viewer that everyone knows about, so they'll download it themselves if they can't open a pdf anyway.

More to the point, in adobe, click tools, preferences.  On the internet section, you should have a checkbox to allow viewing pdfs in a browser.  Just uncheck it.  Next time you click on a pdf, it will download and open in adobe, instead of showing it directly in the browser.