jonathanmoeller ([info]jonathanmoeller) wrote,
@ 2008-07-09 16:22:00
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Adobe Reader 9: less bad than you might think
Used Adobe Reader 9 for the first time today, and was pleasantly surprised. Reader 8 was bloated, slow, and inefficient. Opening a simple PDF file took entirely too long, and it had this annoying tendency to crash Internet Explorer. You ought to be using Firefox anyway, but still.

Reader 7...we'll just say that the less you say about Reader 7, the better.

But Reader 9 is much quicker and more streamlined than the previous incarnations of Adobe Reader.*

FoxIt Reader still leaves Adobe in the dust, though, and I'm not about to switch.

-JM

*Only in the software world is "doesn't suck quite as bad as before" a compliment.

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Why does FoxIt beat Adobe Reader?
(Anonymous)
2008-07-10 08:22 am UTC (link)
You say that FoxIt still "leaves Adobe in the dust", but not why...

Can you please detail what areas you find FoxIt to be a better solution/tool than Adobe Reader?

Leonard

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Re: Why does FoxIt beat Adobe Reader?
[info]jonathanmoeller
2008-07-10 12:36 pm UTC (link)
Quicker, smaller memory footprint, smaller install footprint, faster startup time, and it doesn't install that nagging Adobe Updater software.

Some of it, I'll admit, is lingering annoyance from previous versions of Adobe Reader, but FoxIt is still a better PDF reader.

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Re: Why does FoxIt beat Adobe Reader?
(Anonymous)
2008-07-10 01:59 pm UTC (link)
Quicker in what way? Launch time? Viewing specific document types? UI responsiveness?

Small memory and install footprint - that's true, but FoxIt is also a MUCH LESS capable product. Adobe Reader implements the entire ISO 32000 (PDF 1.7) standard, while FoxIt doesn't even implement all of PDF 1.4 (Acrobat 5). To do more, requires more. HOWEVER, I think you'll find the memory footprint of Reader 9 is MUCH LESS than Reader 8.

I think that if you actually try Reader 9 for a while, you'll stop using FoxIt....

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Re: Why does FoxIt beat Adobe Reader?
[info]jonathanmoeller
2008-07-10 02:21 pm UTC (link)
Yes.

Granted, I don't want features. I just want the dang PDF to open already.

Out of curiosity, are you gainfully employed with Adobe?

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Re: Why does FoxIt beat Adobe Reader?
(Anonymous)
2008-07-10 02:28 pm UTC (link)
Yes, I am - I should have identified myself earlier but wanted to let you comment w/o bias.

Just remember, fast isn't very useful if what you see isn't correct :(.

Leonard Rosenthol
PDF Standards Architect
Adobe Systems

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Re: Why does FoxIt beat Adobe Reader?
[info]jonathanmoeller
2008-07-10 03:20 pm UTC (link)
Ha! I should have guessed.

Well, I want to be fair, so tell you what. This weekend I'll break out the stopwatch and do a head to head comparison between Adobe Reader 9 and the latest version of FoxIt, comparing hard drive space, memory usage, load times for PDFs of various sizes, and standards support, and we'll see which one comes out on top.

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Re: Why does FoxIt beat Adobe Reader?
(Anonymous)
2008-07-10 04:51 pm UTC (link)
I look forward to it - thanks!

Be sure to try various types of PDFs - not just simple Office documents, but prepress content, CAD drawings, forms, animations, 3D renderings, etc. to really get a good feel for the differences.

When I need to find various types of PDFs for demos, I use Google's advanced search which lets you restrict searches by file type and then pick some interesting topic that might have some documents of that type. Or if you need something specific and can't find it - feel free to email me and I'll send along.

Leonard (leonardr@adobe.com)

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Job?
(Anonymous)
2008-07-16 06:54 pm UTC (link)
Hey JMoeller, sounds like you may be looking for a job...maybe Mr. Adobe could assist you there.

7th grade homeroom teacher.

(Reply to this) (Thread)
Re: Job?
[info]jonathanmoeller
2008-07-16 07:15 pm UTC (link)
I'm quite content with my current employment situation, thanks.

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