Brief Hands-On Report--Adobe Reader 8.0 is Out
Download and installation is a 3-step process. First, Adobe Reader Download Manager is downloaded and installed. Then, it downloads the Adobe Reader Installer. Finally, Adobe Reader 8.0 is installed by launching the Installer. We had to authenticate twice during this procedure.
Adobe Reader 8.0 has a new interface. During launch it displays the usual dialog box to set Adobe Reader as the default PDF reader plus a new dialog box. The new one is entitled "Beyond Adobe Reader" and clicking the button connects your computer to Adobe's Web site and displays a tutorial start window. One of the sections of the window displays what's new in Adobe Reader 8:
New User Interface
- Organized, simplified, optimized
- Customizable toolbars, combined search/find
New Viewing Options
- Reading mode, pan & zoom, loupe tools, hide page gaps
Working with PDF files
- PDF Packages, new markup tools
Collaboration
- Start meeting with Acrobat Connect, RSS review tracker
Security
- New Adobe Document Center, consolidated security/permissions view
Digital Signatures
- One-click signing, roaming ID's
Performance
- 2D GPU acceleration
Accessibility
- Better read out loud experience
Printing
- New booklet printing
New Deployment Tool
- Adobe Customization Wizard
There are also four panes taking one to details on how to create a PDF and collaborate, using Reader Enabled PDFs and Help Resources.
Adobe lists three ways to create a PDF file with Adobe Reader 8, other than using Mac OS X's print driver: create a PDF online, use Acrobat and use an enterprise server solution called Adobe LiveCycle. None of Adobe's solutions are free like using Mac OS X.
One of our speed tests involves scrolling the length of a 144-page document in Acrobat Reader. The document is the VirtualPC 4.0 Manual. It took our 2.33GHz 15" MacBook Pro C2D 46 seconds to scroll page-by-page through the document with Adobe Reader 7.0.8. With Adobe Reader 8.0, it took only 11 seconds.
We like the new interface, features and speed of Adobe Reader 8. [Bill Fox]
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