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Publishers and authors do not like to give away material they have paid to create, yet there are valid reasons for sharing some types of material. The trick is to furnish a look-alike copy of the material without permitting it to be altered, or to have the files and fonts harvested and used without permission.
One excellent solution is the Portable Document Format file (PDF). PDFs allow published material to be shared without losing control over it. Adobe publishes software that creates PDFs. They also give away the software required to read them. That software is Adobe Reader, formerly known as Adobe Acrobat Reader. Given the ubiquity of PDFs and Adobe Reader, Adobe has all but assured that they will have plenty customers for their PDF encoding software.
Today the poor computer user is assailed with free software, special offers, junk mail, "phishing" scams, and the like. Install the AIM chat client and you will get Wild Tangent for free. You always wanted your computer to become a server for gaming, right? Install that free pop-up blocker that was pitched to you in a pop-up message and your computer may slow to a crawl, as it dutifully reports on your surfing habits to someone out there in cyberspace. Click on that flashing message that warns you that your computer may be infected with spyware and you may become infected with spyware!
Adobe has been such a breath of fresh air in a polluted sea of confusion. Their free Reader software was always just that, free and unencumbered with junk. Since they have always behaved responsibly, not trying to foist off additional software on their users, Adobe has generally been regarded as a highly trusted and safe download source that can be recommended without hesitation.
Well, that was the case until recently but things seem to have changed.
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| The situation has changed, and not for the better. |
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In mid-2005, when we attempted to open a PDF, we were advised that there was a newer version of Adobe Reader available. When we attempted to install it we found that the Yahoo! toolbar was also going to be installed. This toolbar had not been listed as an option yet it was automatically selected. Attempts to prevent Yahoo! Toolbar from installing were futile so we did not update.
Early in November 2005 we attempted to open another PDF and were reminded that we had not updated to the latest version. This time there were three choices, including the Yahoo! toolbar. Clicking on an available item and then clicking the Add button would select that item for down loading. |
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This looks like a pretty simple process, although it might be even simpler if you could just click a radio button or check a box, but it works. Even so, we clicked on Adobe Reader, which is the only product we wanted to install, and then clicked on "Add" to add it to the Selected list.
Something was wrong here. We chose only one item yet TWO were selected, Adobe Reader and the Yahoo! toolbar. While the Yahoo! toolbar is a good product, it is in no way related to the task at hand, namely, reading PDFs. It is also not an Adobe product and it has virtually nothing to do with Adobe Reader.
It was possible to click Remove and delete the toolbar from the selection. After several attempts to make our selection properly the first time it became readily apparent that Adobe was not going to let you have one without the other. You have to select both by default and then remove the Yahoo! toolbar from the selection list. |
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There was another problem. The Adobe Atmosphere choice would self-select if the mouse was rolled anywhere near it. If another option was clicked, Atmosphere would become highlighted instead. A funny flickering around the Atmosphere text seemed to indicated that a special script was controlling this option.
Notice how the title is highlighted below. The other two titles don't do that (see the first screen shot, above) and they don't flicker. Highlighting this item in the Selected window would produce a similar flickering effect. |
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Interestingly, if you visit the Adobe site to update the Reader you will be offered the Yahoo! toolbar and a stripped down version of Photoshop by default, but not the Atmosphere Player. These options are easily de-selected. To be fair about it, Adobe is not overly aggressive about forcing these options on you but they don't explain why you would or would not want them.
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| So, is Adobe Reader safe? |
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We think so, as long as you watch what you are doing and don't allow Adobe to install anything extra. But no longer can we recommend it as a "safe" download without a few caveats.
For now the safest download would be to go to the Adobe site and watch what is checked before hitting the "go" button. Unfortunately, one can never know in advance when some new manager will decide to get greedy and abuse the consumer trust that has been established over the years. |
