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General discussion

Adobe Acrobat for Newbies

May 17, 2006 4:20AM PDT

Can somebody explain in plain language what is the advantage of using Adobe Acrobat for creating documents?

I realize that it is supposed to be a universal kind of format that allows a document to be viewed the same way it looked when it was created, but can't other applications do this too? Can't this be done with a modern word processor like Word or a Web browser and XML? Somebody please explain the differences to me. Thanks.

Discussion is locked

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I have Adobe Acrobat Reader
May 21, 2006 1:47PM PDT

If I had WIN98, WIN98SE & WINME and went to read the Printer info, it is in .PDF format (Adobe Only). It does not end in .DOC, .RTF & .TXT other types that are in WordPad, but you cannot read .PDF in WordPad. I also download bus routes and they are in .PDF format only. Below WINXP is only Adobe Acrobat 6.0 but I have WINXP and Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0.7. Darrell Lewis

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Delay in replying
May 22, 2006 8:23PM PDT

I'm sorry for the delay in replying Faith.

I have to say that I am not sure myself why PDF files became so universally accepted. I groan when I click on a link in a web site to read a document and it either attempts to install a PDF within the web browser, (which often failed for me in Firefox, but the Firefox browser is now much better), or download the PDF file to my computer, forcing me to open it with an Adobe Acrobat Reader.

I find the Reader clumsy and difficult to navigate. I don't like the grab hand mouse pointer, which often doesn't page up or down full pages, and I don't like the layout of the GUI, (Graphic User Interface, or Reader window).

You may have guessed that I am not one of Adobe's most adoring fans.

But there I go. Off on a rant again! I use Microsoft Word whenever I need to.

I hope this helps, but probably not as I haven't been able to answer your question. But at least you now know you are not alone, Happy

Mark