Adobe Acrobat X Review Discussion

By Dustin Sklavos

Reviewing a product like Adobe Acrobat X can be remarkably difficult because the product itself suffers the same problems that software like Photoshop or even Windows often do: if your program is already incredibly pervasive and basically the gold standard, just how important was that incremental update? It's true that Microsoft had a harsh reality check with Windows Vista, but Adobe hasn't had to deal with that kind of fear. It's what made the impressive jump with Photoshop CS5 so surprising.

In many ways Acrobat and Adobe's PDF format are even more insurmountable. Microsoft tried with their XPS format, which hasn't exactly set the world on fire. Despite the fact that security holes pop up in Adobe software -- especially in the PDF format -- at an alarming rate, it is nonetheless pervasive. PDF files are used for documentation for a broad range of software. PDF files are frequently a default format available for scanners, oftentimes without even needing to boot into an operating system. Unlike Photoshop -- which serves a specific user base -- and Windows -- which does have to contend with Mac OS X and Linux -- Adobe's PDF format is simply inescapable. It is on every platform. It is readable on smartphones.

You can see why one might wonder if Adobe even has the impetus to improve it, and you can see why updates have been...rarefied. Acrobat Pro belongs in Adobe's Creative Suite -- it's strange that it isn't included in CS5 -- but Acrobat X is more than a little late. What does it bring to the table?

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