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 Posted: Mar 09, 2010 - 05:12 PM |
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Joined: Jul 18, 2005
Posts: 33138
Location: (using avr-gcc in) Finchingfield, Essex, England
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I'm not sure if I'm the the only one but it seemed to me that about half the crashes that ever occur on my Vista PC are down to Acrobat Reader (either standalone or embedded in a browser). I was using 8.x and saw a mention of 9.x being available so went to adobe.com and upgraded.
What a mistake to make!!!!! (if you've upgraded to 9.x you will know this already)
When I started it a lot of my usual settings (like LCD/laptop font smoothing) seemed to have been switched off - so when I found it creating a new taskbar icon for every PDF I opened I simply thought "oh I remember having to switch this SDI/MDI setting once before". So I went through every option of every settings tab and could not find the option to switch the behaviour?!?
I was a bit puzzled so I googled this and found that the Adobe support forums are alive with the indignation of heavy PDF users complaining that MDI (multiple document windows all in one instance of the program) has been dropped between 8.x and 9.x and all that's left is SDI (single document interface means a whole new copy of the program (and its icon) per document).
So expect your taskbar to be filled with Adobe icons from now on - using Windows "group similar taskbar buttons" does not help.
One of the forum threads linked to this Adobe developer's blog:
http://blogs.adobe.com/acrobat/2008/09/ ... robat.html
which explains why it's been dropped with the 5 compelling reasons for doing so. Interesting that they left it until number 5 to say:
Quote:
5. A cost compelling reason was that MDI and SDI mode essentially became another view mode in which all work flows had to be tested. This increases the cost of testing the product and the cost of fixing bugs. Often a fix to a bug in one view mode would cause adverse reactions in the other view mode. The decision to support only one view mode on Windows was made to simplify this. Furthermore, more time spent in this area could mean less time spent developing and fixing bugs in other areas.
So there you have it - to save their testing costs one of the most important features of Acrobat Reader for programmers, who can have 5..10 documents open at once, has been removed.
Ho hum - I guess this is "progress" ?
(now I just pray that I'm going to be able to ditch this crap and rewind to 8.x - but what happens when it's no longer supported??)
Extremely grumpy of Finchingfield. |
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Posted: Mar 09, 2010 - 05:58 PM |
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Joined: Dec 18, 2009
Posts: 63
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I can agree it can be annoying if Windows can't group the windows in the task bar, but at least for my usage pattern MDI would be even worse. I like to have the PDF file I'm viewing side-by-side with the editor, and that won't work in MDI unless the documents are maximized inside the application window which in turn makes viewing two document side-by-side impossible.
In any case, I would recommend all Windows users to switch to Sumatra PDF instead of Adobe's abomination. It doesn't do MDI, but is just much more light-weight and pleasant to use (it is similar to Apple's Preview, if you have experience with that). |
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Posted: Mar 09, 2010 - 06:19 PM |
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Joined: Dec 17, 2005
Posts: 1443
Location: Europe- Estonia- Tallinn
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foxit reader is the keyword here.
Opens faster, has multiple documents in single program. basically... everything you need. Doesn't open high-tech PDF's though (3D PDF etc), but then again... who uses that in every day basis. I have both installed with foxit as default. |
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Posted: Mar 09, 2010 - 07:30 PM |
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Joined: Jul 02, 2005
Posts: 2537
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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Another vote here for Foxit.
Cheers,
Ross |
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Ross McKenzie
ValuSoft
Melbourne Australia
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Posted: Mar 09, 2010 - 07:42 PM |
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Joined: Jan 26, 2009
Posts: 99
Location: Horsens, Denmark
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Add to that recent versions of adobe reader supports hardware rendering, very nice!
...unless your driver for some reason does not play well with their method and you end up with a BSOD for opening a freaking PDF.
foxit reader +1  |
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Posted: Mar 09, 2010 - 08:46 PM |
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Joined: Dec 15, 2003
Posts: 4140
Location: Slovakia, Bratislava
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| Adobe has been loosing it lately... I was quite shocked to find the size of the installation as well as the size of the temporary folders it makes in the user folders... go ahead. Check it. |
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There are pointy haired bald people.
Time flies when you have a bad prescaller selected.
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Posted: Mar 09, 2010 - 09:08 PM |
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Joined: Mar 07, 2001
Posts: 1940
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
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While I can agree that Acrobat reader sucks badly, I can report that on Windows 7, the taskbar grouping works just fine.
I have never noticed that AB ever worked as a MDI app, I've always had docs open in separate windows, and would be really, really crippled if it was not so.
I don't have any problems with AB, but it's nice to know about the alternatives, so I'll have a look at Sumatra and Foxit. |
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/Jesper
http://www.yampp.com
The quick black AVR jumped over the lazy PIC.
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Posted: Mar 09, 2010 - 11:31 PM |
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Joined: Sep 21, 2005
Posts: 2104
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Posted: Mar 10, 2010 - 12:11 AM |
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Joined: Jun 27, 2005
Posts: 2691
Location: St.Petersburg, Russia
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| Is it not possible to find an old installation of version 5 and just keep using it, if you must? Me FoxIt +1, Preview +1. |
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The Dark Boxes are coming.
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Posted: Mar 10, 2010 - 04:23 AM |
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Joined: Feb 11, 2003
Posts: 128
Location: Vallejo, CA
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| Foxit or Sumatra with Sandboxie. |
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Posted: Mar 10, 2010 - 05:18 AM |
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Joined: Apr 24, 2006
Posts: 233
Location: Sydney, Australia
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I'm still using Acrobat 7 as the later versions shit me to tears. The worst part of version 7 is that even though Adobe insists on using one-window-per-document with separate taskbar icons, if you click the main "Close" button in Acrobat it closes *all* your document windows!! I hate it when I have 4 or 5 datasheets open, try to close one and inadvertently close the lot and have to find them all again.
Want another pet peeve - still in the Adobe family - google "LSO cookies". Adobe Flash stores its own type of cookie which is outside the realm of normal cookies so clearing your browser does nothing. Go back to the website and it will restore the previous LSO file and bang, it remembers all your shit. Thankfully there's a firefox plugin called BetterPrivacy that can clear all these LSO files on exit:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6623 |
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Posted: Mar 10, 2010 - 08:51 AM |
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Joined: Dec 15, 2003
Posts: 4140
Location: Slovakia, Bratislava
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http://www.oldversion.com/
Might be there... |
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There are pointy haired bald people.
Time flies when you have a bad prescaller selected.
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Posted: Mar 10, 2010 - 10:08 AM |
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Joined: Jul 18, 2005
Posts: 33138
Location: (using avr-gcc in) Finchingfield, Essex, England
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Thanks folks - Foxit it is then
EDIT: ah, tabs, that's a nice way to do MDI |
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Posted: Mar 10, 2010 - 11:37 AM |
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Joined: Oct 14, 2007
Posts: 41
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One of my early rules re a new installation :
System32\drivers\etc\hosts get edited and I add the line 127.0.0.1 adobe.com
I can't even turn of updates on some versions - I don't want. |
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Posted: Mar 11, 2010 - 04:35 AM |
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Joined: Dec 18, 2001
Posts: 2939
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| What's the Adobe Reader alternative that works with FireFox and IE? |
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Posted: Mar 11, 2010 - 08:02 PM |
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Joined: May 26, 2004
Posts: 1992
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
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| Foxit has a plugin for Firefox. I haven't run IE in many years, so I don't know if Foxit supports it, but I imagine it would. |
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Posted: Mar 11, 2010 - 09:21 PM |
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Joined: Jan 03, 2006
Posts: 3192
Location: Hemel Hemsptead, UK
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| As a rule, I *hate* software that runs as plug-ins for pretty much anything. I always arrange that I get the save as/open with option when arriving at a pdf or similar, even if the reader is (as at work) adobe. On this Ubuntu box, the reader is 'Evince'. |
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Neil Barnes
www.nailed-barnacle.co.uk
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Posted: Mar 11, 2010 - 10:36 PM |
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Joined: May 26, 2004
Posts: 1992
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
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Quote:
As a rule, I *hate* software that runs as plug-ins for pretty much anything.
I don't disagree. If I'm downloading a PDF I intend to save I normally send it to the full reader, not the plug-in. But when (as I do) you spend half the day looking up stuff online, and the links on the manufacturers' web sites go to PDF catalog pages or similar, the browser plug-in becomes pretty much an indispensable time-saver. |
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Posted: Mar 12, 2010 - 12:26 AM |
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Joined: Sep 07, 2004
Posts: 1442
Location: New York State
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| Acrobat is the pits. Foxit works well for me. It's never opened as a plug-in when running I.E., but that's okay with me. My two options are to download to a file of my choice or not. When not, it downloads to a temporary file and opens automatically in the Foxit program. |
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Posted: Mar 12, 2010 - 04:54 AM |
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Joined: Dec 18, 2001
Posts: 2939
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But I *have* to use IE for certain things (normally I use FireFox). Some of those IE things are
Employer's Sharepoint sites (now that's really sucky software)
Certain other Employer's websites
Several investment brokers/banks I use are IE dependent.
Some streaming multimedia sites just won't work with FireFox and mating plugins.
Of course, most of Microsoft's websites. |
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Posted: Mar 12, 2010 - 07:09 AM |
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Joined: Aug 13, 2003
Posts: 88
Location: Romania
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| I chose PDF-XChange Viewer for its free 64bit version. Foxit was also very nice but some backdoor vulnerabilities news in the past and the lack of a 64 bit version made me try something else. |
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Posted: Mar 12, 2010 - 10:01 AM |
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Joined: Sep 02, 2005
Posts: 213
Location: Perth, Western Australia
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| Another vote for PDF-XChange viewer. I like how it remembers the page you were up to last time you had a particular document open. |
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Posted: Mar 13, 2010 - 12:53 AM |
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Joined: Sep 07, 2004
Posts: 1442
Location: New York State
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ltdor wrote:
Foxit was also very nice but the lack of a 64 bit version made me try something else.
I don't understand the problem. It runs fine on my 64 bit Win7. |
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Posted: Mar 13, 2010 - 01:08 AM |
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Joined: Sep 07, 2004
Posts: 1442
Location: New York State
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ltdor wrote:
Foxit was also very nice but some backdoor vulnerabilities news in the past.
Don't read the news. 
Foxit doesn't seem to do much updating, or maybe I just ignore it. It was Acrobat's automatic updates that turned me to Foxit.
I had just installed the latest and greatest Acrobat (or whatever they now call their reader) about a year ago. It decided to download updates. The download took several hours on my dialup connection. I kept the connection open to let it finish. When the download finished, it tried to install, and failed.
I thought maybe I could shutdown other programs and try the update install myself, but I couldn't find where Acrobat stored it.
The next day, Acrobat again started downloading updates. I decided to give it a second chance and left the dialup connection open for the hours it took to download. Then it tried to install, and again it failed.
Then I installed Foxit and haven't used Acrobat since. |
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Posted: Mar 13, 2010 - 02:56 PM |
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Joined: Jul 18, 2005
Posts: 33138
Location: (using avr-gcc in) Finchingfield, Essex, England
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| Having used Foxit a bit now I must say it seems a really great bit of software and I love the way you can switch to text view to Ctrl-C tables/sections from a PDF |
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Posted: Mar 13, 2010 - 07:01 PM |
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Joined: Dec 18, 2001
Posts: 2939
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| Shifting: I do a lot of "print to PDF" from Office apps and from FireFox. I've used not-free NitroPDF but really would like a better package. NitroPDF is schlock, e.g., it doesn't bother to remember the last-used folder, crashes with big complex documents, and so on. Anything better? I tried freeware PrimoPDF but it's too buggy. |
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Posted: Mar 13, 2010 - 08:28 PM |
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Joined: Aug 13, 2003
Posts: 88
Location: Romania
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| Bullzip PDF Printer was the best free thing i have used. |
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Posted: Mar 13, 2010 - 08:40 PM |
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Joined: Jul 18, 2005
Posts: 33138
Location: (using avr-gcc in) Finchingfield, Essex, England
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Posted: Mar 15, 2010 - 10:43 AM |
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Joined: Jul 18, 2005
Posts: 33138
Location: (using avr-gcc in) Finchingfield, Essex, England
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One thing about Foxit I just found that I am extremely unhappy about. I happened to notice an unexpected icon in the quickstart area of my task bar with the ebay logo. It actually linked to a web site http://www.adon-demand.de/red/2303/ - when I Googled this I found:
http://forums.foxitsoftware.com//showthread.php?t=10671
So it seems that every third installation of Foxit adds an advert link to ebay to your quickstart area without asking - worse it goes via some advert tracking site in Germany.
I know it's "free" sofwtare but this is a bit of a sharp practice if you ask me!
Cliff |
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Posted: Mar 15, 2010 - 11:11 PM |
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Joined: Sep 07, 2004
Posts: 1442
Location: New York State
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Some installer, I guess it's Foxit, tries to sneak the "Ebay" option past you. On one of the screens, there is a small pre-checked box. The label in fine print says something about the Ebay thing. Its easy to miss.
I don't think I've ever had that link on my computers. I don't usually install software on my main machine anyway. If it needs to be installed, I install it somewhere else and then use the installation folder to run the program on my main machine.
I run Firefox, Foxit, LanLights, Free download manager, WinRAR, and a bunch of other programs on this machine but I didn't install them here. That's one reason I like two computers, two hard drives on each, and several operating systems installed on each. |
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Posted: Mar 15, 2010 - 11:58 PM |
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Joined: Jul 18, 2005
Posts: 33138
Location: (using avr-gcc in) Finchingfield, Essex, England
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| Steve I'm 99.9% certain I spotted that box during installation and unticked it. |
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Posted: Mar 16, 2010 - 02:46 AM |
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Joined: Dec 18, 2001
Posts: 2939
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| I loved, now hate FoxMarks, since it was commercialized. Why is there an a "new update available" twice a week? It's gotta be something bad, like collecting marketing intelligence. I just say NO over and over. Next time, I'm gonna uninstall it. I can't believe that Mozilla allowed this to happen. |
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Posted: Mar 16, 2010 - 02:48 AM |
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Joined: Dec 18, 2001
Posts: 2939
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clawson wrote:
Steve,
I've always used the free CutePDF for "print to PDF" and it's absolutely brilliant (IMHO):
http://www.cutepdf.com/products/cutepdf/Writer.asp
Cliff
Do I want all this baggage that comes with it?
Quote:
* Requires PS2PDF converter such as Ghostscript (recommended).
You can get the free GPL Ghostscript 8.15 here.
GNU Ghostscript is an open-source interpreter for the PostScript language and the PDF file format. It is distributed under the GNU General Public License. You may obtain the source code for GPL Ghostscript 8.15 here.
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Posted: Mar 16, 2010 - 11:28 AM |
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Joined: Jul 18, 2005
Posts: 33138
Location: (using avr-gcc in) Finchingfield, Essex, England
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Quote:
Do I want all this baggage that comes with it?
You won't be concious of it - when you download and install any 10MB, 50MB, 100MB or whatever .zip or setup.exe the chances are the package contains various support libs but the only difference is that they aren't usually identified. Ghostscript is GNU so has to be mentioned but in using CutePDF you don't even know it's there and the install program is simply a one time download, click and go. |
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Posted: Mar 16, 2010 - 04:27 PM |
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Joined: May 26, 2004
Posts: 1992
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
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| I have CutePDF set as my default printer. Previously I used PDF995, but CutePDF is better and a lot less fussy. Both of them use Ghostscript. I still use some of the PDF995 tools - their PDFEdit is a wonderful tool for combining separate PDF files into a single document. So, for example, I can print a whole set of individual drawings from a CAD package to PDF using CutePDF, then combine them into a single multi-page drawing using PDFEdit. |
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Posted: Apr 26, 2010 - 06:38 PM |
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Joined: Oct 14, 2007
Posts: 41
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visnwbs wrote:
One of my early rules re a new installation :
System32\drivers\etc\hosts get edited and I add the line 127.0.0.1 adobe.com
I can't even turn of updates on some versions - I don't want.
This used to work, now I went online, and it somehow found the download site and started downloading and before I noticed Acrobat had downloaded about 100MB of updates. I am furious, I am not on uncapped internet. This just cost me a heck of money - I am in South Africa where internet via cellular network is not cheap.
I want that NO, DON'T UPDATE button! I need to disable it. I am so, so furious  |
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Posted: Apr 27, 2010 - 01:03 AM |
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Joined: Nov 11, 2003
Posts: 909
Location: Chicago Illinois USA
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I used Sumatra PDF for a while, and quite liked it. Till I went to print a 50 page manual. I'm old fashion and like to have them next to me so's I can scribble in them while I have the work on screen.
It seemed to take an abnormally long time to send to the printer. A while later, the VP asked, "Is that your 30GB document clogging up the printer?"
Eek! Kill it before it multiplies!
Sumatra seems to queue up an 8 1/2 by 11 600dpi image for each page. |
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 Thank you, you useless reptile!
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