Adobe Releases PDF to the World

So does this mean Microsoft can finally build pdf into Office with getting sued … again?

I think this has a lot to do with the office case.

Good on Adobe for doing this but Microsoft could never have been sued.

Mike, totally off topic but…
Does anyone know what happened here - http:// firefoxit.mozdev.org/ ??

“Widgets for Firefox” extension - extremely Web 2.OhNo-ish concept ?

Very nice Adobe (I really mean that). Now can we please look at making Flash a little more open?

had to read that one twice..

It’s about time, with freeware and piracy ruling all over, this is a forced move on adobe but it will definitely benefit the community.

You can already now create PDFs in Office 2007 with a little addin (official download from MS). This works pretty good for me.

Adobe initially approached MS, when they bundled that addin with Office. Now that it is a separate download, it seem to be ok with Adobe.

You would still need Acrobat Professional (or something similar) if you want the PDF printer driver or need to fine tune your PDFs.

I think this is a good move from Adobe.

This is a good thing but pretty late. Other than the mentioned government acceptance, what will it offer general consumers?

Free and easy tools like CutePDF Writer (http://www.cutepdf.com/) have been available for writing PDFs for a long time.

Smart move by Adobe.

But it’s risky considering Office could become the most popular/common tool to create/edit PDF, thus completing undermining that strategy. But that’s if of course that’s even the motivation.

This is a great business move by Adobe. This’ll mean that pdf will become even more widespread (if that’s possible). They’ll just maintain a group of tools from now on.

I really don’t think that piracy and crippled freeware were the motivation or that Adobe felt ‘forced’ to do this, though

of course if PDF really does become open and standardised hopefully someone will create a PDF writer (and reader) that’s not the absolute bloatware of the Adobe product.
I use the Foxit reader most of the time with the ‘genuine’ Adobe product only on one machine
Wonder if this is their way of trying to stay relevant in the on-going ODP/OOXML standardisation process (after all with those two already in the ISO proces PDF just becomes a closed tag-along)

OpenOffice has a pdf export option.

I think few folks here are getting confused, commenting as if PDF spec is open to public just now.
PDF spec was open for years, but it is just that now they are making more open-source sort of.

I despise everything about adobe. Their true goals are to be as bad as Microsoft. They hurt the industry more than they help it. This and free flex compiler do nothing for me, this move is just as generic and Microsoft joining with Novelle.

I agree with cease, I despise Adobe as well. I long for the day in the not-so-distant future when Apple reveals their Photoshop-Illustrator-all-in-one killer app. And I am a “PC guy”

CutePDF is available for free to create PDF files as a print driver. I’ve yet to find good PDF editing software for free though.

Some people are a little confused. The PDF format has been open since 1993, as the article indicates. In fact, EVERY modern operating system has PDF creation and PDF viewing built directly in, so that any application that can print to a printer can print to PDF just as easily. That way, you can email someone a document and they’ll be able to view just as if they pulled it from their printer, independent of the application used to create it.

Every modern OS, except Microsoft Windows. Why?

Because Microsoft makes a hell of a lot of money having people email Word documents instead, even when the intent is that the recipients of such emails are only meant to read the document and not edit it. Doh!

That’s like handing out a memo at a meeting, but requiring that everyone attending has a typewriter to read it. Man, I’d love to be the manufacturer of those typewriters.

So, people can hate Adobe all they want and say things like “Its about time,” but the problem is that Microsoft has simply chosen not to include PDF capabilities in any Windows version. And Adobe couldn’t sue them if they did. Its open. The whole suing rumor was started by Microsoft, as an excuse not to have to include PDF. Remember, its all about emailing Word documents.

Isnt Javascript notoriously insecure? I recall a discussion where certain spam sites are using Javascript in a way to track user behaviour of unsuspecting visitors.

Also, hasn’t there been more media coverage about turning JS off within the browser? How does this affect Apollo development…

…doh, meant to post to Apollo thread…

Open formats FTW!!!!!

Yay that!

“That way, you can email someone a document and they’ll be able to view just as if they pulled it from their printer, independent of the application used to create it”.

Fair point, but you can download a free M$ .doc viewer, and have been able to since at least 1997.

Great news though, the PDF will make a good standard publishing format. Well, not that it’s not already, but being endorsed by the ISO will further help with it’s integration.

Since when does a corporate organisation producing a bloated format with the sole purpose of fleecing those who want too release copyright material in a manner so as too guarrentee money for themselves & corporate org touted as open source but no availability for peer review & change make it open source?