For the first time, PDFs will play movies via the free Acrobat Reader 9, set for a July release. The Portable Document format is maturing from print-readiness to a venue for multimedia content. Although PDFs have been interactive for some time, such as with Version 8's support for Web-based forms, Acrobat 9 takes the print-ready document format into the so-called Web 2.0 era. This release of Acrobat makes PDFs more dynamic and packs in more new features than prior releases did. Although the company pledges anonymity, we were nevertheless glad that it presented the option not to participate upfront.

During installation, Adobe offers the choice of opting into or rejecting its Product Improvement Program, which will send the company anonymous information about how you use the software.

The process was relatively smooth and unintrusive, although we did wind up with an Acrobat 9 icon on our desktop. In our experience, uninstalling older versions of Acrobat took longer than adding the new application. Installing Acrobat 9 Pro Extended took about 20 minutes on our Windows XP test computer. Adobe requires 512MB of RAM for Pro Extended and recommends video hardware acceleration. However, unless otherwise noted, the features mentioned here can be found in Standard or Pro editions.Īcrobat 9 requires at least a 1.3GHz processor running Windows Vista or XP with Service Pack 2, with 256MB of RAM, screen resolution of 1,024x768 pixels, and 2.13GB of free hard-drive space at minimum. This review covers the costliest application, Acrobat 9 Pro Extended. Pro Extended also comes with Adobe Presenter, which plugs into Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 for adding interactivity to presentations. There are three versions of Acrobat 9: Standard at $299 or $99 to upgrade, Pro for $449 or $159 to upgrade, and Pro Extended for $699 or $229 to upgrade. On top of it all, Adobe offers an online community at that facilitates online collaboration so users can store documents and literally work on the same page at the same time. In turn, users of Version 9 of the nearly ubiquitous and free Acrobat Reader will be able to watch movies, play interactive games, and run applications baked into PDFs without opening a third-party media player.Īmong the many new, dynamic features to justify a business purchase of Acrobat 9 include dynamic maps, enhanced 256-bit encryption, and improved forms. For the first time, PDFs can 'talk' via embedded Flash video and Shockwave animation. The introduction of Adobe Acrobat 9 document-creation software could do for PDFs what the 'Jazz Singer' did for movies. This update should be worthwhile for security-minded businesses and creative firms. Forms, security, and overall ease of use are also enhanced. With Acrobat 9, Adobe's PDF creation and editing program brings new Web relevance to print-ready PDFs by enabling embedded video and animation.

Adobe acrobat 9 pro extended user guide