FireFox & Acrobat Reader

jksuperstar · Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2006 11:14 am Post subject: FireFox & Acrobat Reader

Am I the only one with issues of acrobat reader frequently locking up firefox when you use the plug-in version?

I thought that was my only problem, but now the acrobat updater/installer is also having issues. And this isn't on 1 system, this is on my home systems, laptop, work PC...everywhere.

And why is adobe software so damn bloated?

Any recommendations for a better PDF reader on the PC?

brinxmat · Joined: Oct 24, 2005 Posts: 262 Location: Norway

Is it possible to not use the plugin, but rather use the standard reader?

On re-reading your post I see that your issue is with Acrobat itself, hmm. Ghostscript and GSView spring to mind, but mainly because I like these tools on UNIX.

Found this link though.

mosc · Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2006 11:57 am Post subject:

I haven't had all that much problem with Adobe, but is is huge and it takes a long time to load, even the plugin. I just tried downloading that program FoxitReader. It works great for me. I'm not going remove Adobe from my PC yet, but I will eventually. This think is much snappier and it doesn't install all kinds of things you don't want, like photo viewers and download managers.

Glad you posted this.

opg · Posted: Wed Apr 05, 2006 10:55 am Post subject:

I'll have to look into that. I HATE it when I have to open a PDF file. It's too bulky ( I guess since they are almost the equivalent of scanned documents in a hi-res format?) and just loading the reader is irritating. It's fine when Photoshop loads and you have to sit and watch the splash screen and everything loading and who made the program, but not for Acrobat. Evil or Very Mad

mosc · Posted: Wed Apr 05, 2006 11:29 am Post subject:

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

OK, it's been a whole day and this little Foxit reader is just terriffic. Very FAST.

As soon as I get a chance, I'll remove Acrobat. What do I need it for?

brinxmat · Joined: Oct 24, 2005 Posts: 262 Location: Norway

If you actually consider what Acrobat (or any other display mechanism for PS/PDF) does, it's not entirely surprising that it takes a bit of time to a) start the engine, and b) actually render anything.

I like Acrobat for the simple reason that it gives you a lot of control; I hate Reader for exactly the opposite reason. I am not keen on 3rd-party stuff for the simple reason that it generally doesn't do what I want it to do (produce portable, high-reliability documents), and either assumes that I only ever produce docs for print, or that I am an idiot (or in some cases, bizarrely) even both.

The last Acrobat Pro edition was a real winner for me -- PDF/A, PDF/X-1a as well as all the usual. Woo. (Though, I did upgrade from 5.0.) I use Preview to view, mind; that's a good tool if you're viewing multiple pages or documents.

Speed has never, funnily enough, been an issue, that said, I don't use Windows.

opg · Posted: Wed Apr 05, 2006 12:00 pm Post subject:

jksuperstar · Posted: Wed Apr 05, 2006 12:52 pm Post subject:

he one thing I do to speed up all the adobe products I own is move most of the "plugin" directory over to an "optional" directory. Startup, even with the acrobat quick-start task already started, is easily 10x faster.

It's the instability I don't like. Especially in firefox, since I use the tabbed-browsing alot. So if acrobat crashes my browser, I loose all my windows.

Thanks for the find Howard, I'll poke at it for a few days & report back.

jksuperstar · Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 10:53 am Post subject:

Well, it certainly is lighter weight (memory & cpu cycles), faster, and has an interface that's nearly identical.

The Zoom tool could use some work (no arbitrary zoom, or zoom selection tool), you just have to zoom, re-center, zoom, re-center as you go.

The Search function also isn't as robust, but at least it has key-mappings for quick searching, even if they are re-mapped from the original (CTL-F and CTL-G are now CTL-F and F3).

Small gripes for a neat & free tool. Thanks for the heads up!

BTW- I use it to browse schematics at work heavily, and haven't seen an incorrectly drawn .pdf yet.

blue hell · Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 12:08 pm Post subject:

mosc · Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 9:22 am Post subject:

UPDATE: Foxit has been working great for me, until today. I loaded a PDF file and it didn't show the internal graphical images. I reloaded Adobe Reader 7.0.7 and it works. I'm switching back to Adobe...

Foxit was fun while it lasted. Surprised