Adobe Acrobat 8

Has anyone else tried it and hate it as much as I do?

1. They've discontinued CD installation media. You have to pay for your license (no brainer there) and THEN either pay for media, or pay for access to DOWNLOAD the software.

2. Their installation guide is incorrect. They specify incorrect paths. Not a big deal, I just copied the file to the correct directory, but DUH ADOBE. I feel sorry for a less technical person.

3. You have to PRE-serialize the app. Again, not a big deal. You type in the serial number in an .ini file before running the setup program. The problem here is, if you mistype, the setup GUI will catch it, and will give you a field to correct it, but STILL REGISTERS THE INCORRECT ONE WITH WINDOWS, crippling the application. I found the registry key that stored the serial, but didn't know how to correct it. Adobe knew even less. They asked me if I was installing on a Mac, after I pointed them RIGHT TO IT. *sigh* OKAY, I'll reinstall! I'm not saving any time waiting on hold while you scramble for an answer.

4. Volume licensing? FORGET ABOUT IT. You have the option to host your "license pool" in house, or at adobe. I thought it would be easier (and consume less bandwidth) to host it here. However, when I found out that when you configure the client to download their license internally as opposed to from adobe, I found out that AGAIN, you cripple the app. What's more? Your choice of licensing is A ONE WAY SWITCH. I'm stuck with it now, and I'm struggling to get it to work.

5. The automated support phone doesn't recognize the customer ID they gave me. (Hopefully, I'm an isolated case on this one)

It's a shame we can't stick with version 5. Acrobat has been on the downhill since then...

 

Again, their support people can't tell you anything more than what's posted on the website...

 

Interesting reading. I read it earlier, wondering if there was any updates, in your plight.

Thought, that acrobat 8 was coming next year though. I guess I thought wrong.

 

What baffles me is that I'm certain I've read that Windows Vista will have a means to edit .PDF files, as well as implementing their own document format, the .XPS, that's supposed to replace .PDFs....

Is it REALLY the time for Adobe to be hassling their customers?

 

The thing is, is Acrobat 7 still available for purchase?
I'm fairly certain that its discontinued. (Currently can't find it on Adobe.com, even with google search string 'acrobat 7 site:adobe.com') I went through the same rigamarole when we needed to purchase an Acrobat 7 license... tried to get 6, and they politely told me to bugger off.

Like I said, I truly believe that they're on the downhill. It seems like they focus on adding new features more than they do on fixing bugs.

You should see some of the nasty, nasty comments on their forums.

 

I have 8 Pro and it works well, if you've got horsepower (cpu) and spark plugs (ram). Among other things, I wanted it for its fine ability to handle Excel tables to and fro - it's absolute at this.

 

Just noticed on a freshly-built XP machine, that there is an XPS writer installed under printers! This is with Office 2003 installed!

Woo HOO!!!!