Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Essential software for your PC
Along with Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat 5.0 is the only other piece of software I own that I consider essential. This component - which includes the all-important writing facilty - is a 'must have' for anyone creating document-centric content that is either going to be either (a) posted on the web, or (b) circulated for review and comment.Acrobat's portable data file ('PDF') output is as close to a lingua franca as you're going to get in computerdom. Pretty much the entire population has the Acrobat Reader. For those that don't, you can easily direct them to a download. Although the software has many different options, the standard settings work straight out of the box. It integrates directly into your Office XP software via embedded macros. To create a PDF document out of, say, a Word ".doc" file, you just click on the little 'Convert to Adobe PDF' icon that will now appear on a new toolbar at the top of your Office applications. From there, it's a snap. All software should be this easy. Another value-added advantage - the resulting PDF will almost always be smaller than your original Office-based document, making distribution less of a burden on your bandwidth-challenged friends and co-workers. For example, this morning I took a graphics-intensive 1.9 Mb Word file through the conversion process and ended up with a PDF of 700 Kb. Your mileage may vary, of course, and the biggest factor will be the nature of your content. Still though, I've never seen Acrobat become part of the problem by increasing the size of an already too-big document. This software will pay for itself almost immediately.
Rating: - Essential for web designers and for developing handheld docs
Once I got Acrobat, I wondered how I lived without it. One of the most useful features is the PDF printer, where you can print ANY file (such as an html page from a website, for example) to a PDF format, complete with graphics. The software creates a "virtual printer" that allows you to use the print command and create a PDF instead of printing out to your DeskJet. Acrobat 5.0 can convert any file type using the print command, into a PDF, which, when viewed by someone with the free Acrobat Reader, can be read online or viewed with the reader and printed out. The advantage of the PDF format means that editing, formatting on any monitor, any computer looks as it should on anyone computer, regardless of the monitor's resolution setting or computer platform. Another feature, new in version 5.0 is "reflow." Next to the Actual View, Fit Page and Fit Width icons is the new option, Reflow. Select this and the current page's text will automatically "reflow" or reformat to fit the current window size. Change the window size or zoom, and the text automatically reflows to accommodate! This may seem unnecessary for most applications, but consider the handheld, ie Palm, Handspring or Visor. These devices use smaller screens and zoom-in. If you develop applications or documents to be used on handhelds, this feature is useful to check if you have tagged your PDF correctly for these applications. A nice feature, indeed. One word of caution: if you have an older Adobe Reader, you may need to upgrade your reader to use files created with Adobe Acrobat 5.0. If you put PDF files on your website, you should indicate the version of reader your visitors should use.
Rating: - IT'S GOOD! IT'S SMOOTH-RUNNING!
Adobe Acrobat 5.0 is a smooth-running program that converts any unconverted document into a Portable Document Format, (pdf). The free (downloadable) version is good; but convenient only for viewing documents. Thus, if you must create and manipulate your own pdf files, you'll need to buy this (relatively expensive) full version. It comes with extra flexibility: including enhanced security and integration options. Very few complaints have gone against this 5.0 version. The only sour point I am aware of is that it is exorbitant.
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