Features

• Use MS Office files on handheld devices
• Create and synch new Word, Excel and PowerPoint files
• Work with graphics, PDFs and more
• E-mail compatible
• Easy to install

Reviews (4)

Avoid the demo at least
I tried the demo v.6.005 on my Treo 600. Very impressive for the most part, but unlike the free bundled viewer it crashed very badly on an e-mailed native Word doc attachment. I actually had to do a hard reset and reinstall all my apps and data from scratch. This is a very impressive piece of software, but hard crashes like these (which I subsequently re-tested and found repeatable) aren't really acceptable. Verdict: don't use this if you plan to travel away from your hotsync PC for any length of time!

unsuable
documents to go compresses my power point slides to the level where the graphics and text are literally unreadable. space on my memory stick is not tight so I would rather have the raw data, but i found no way to change this. a 15 meg document is compressed down to 580k, of course the quality is terrible.

Beware of versions!!!
I recently bought a Palm Zire 71 and found it to be everything I could ever want out a PDA, except for the fact that it lacked the proper software to load Microsoft Word Documents. Happily, I found the DataViz website, downloaded a trial copy of Documents To Go Premium 6.0, and all was well... until the trial period ended.

Not wanting to make a transaction over the net (they only accept credit cards on the site!) I had to find a local vendor that sold the software. And thus, the nightmare started. This product isn't easy find. It took me months to find a store that actually sold the dang thing, but when I finally purchased it, I found that it turned out to be version 5.0!!! Now, here is where things go horribly wrong...

Version 5.0 is a mess. There were multiple times when my Palm had to be reset, and there was even an occasion when the document I was working on simply vanished. Add to that, there's no such thing as a BOOKMARK even on that older version!

So be careful when you make the purchase. Better to just buy it here at Amazon.com and save yourself the trouble that I had to endure.

My advice; Palm better think VERY carefully about shipping any PDA without Documents To Go 6.0

Looking back, I could have saved myself a lot of pain, by buying a Pocket PC instead!

This program kicks butt!
If you want to bring your Office documents around on your you Palm or Sony handheld, this is the product for you. Sweet new user interface that gives all file info, allows for selective syncing of documents, easy SD card management. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

THIS IS FANTASTIC!
What a great piece of software.It is extremely user friendly and allowed me to do things I haven't been able to accomplish with other programs I have tried.I urge everyone to try this...you won't be disappointed!

Logo Design Studio
This product was fantastic!It did everything I needed and wanted it to do plus much more.I would highly reccomend it.

Amazing!
This is an amazing product. I need "easy to use" as I am not very computer savvy and this was incredibly easy! I was able to develop and use several unique logos. I highly recommend this product!

Amazing product!
This product was so easy to use!I am not a techy person at all.This product was easy to install and figure out without reading the manual.I ended up with a few amazing logos to choose from!So much less expensive then going to get one made but looks just as professional.I bought a few other products from Summitsoft and have always had great success.

Pleased
I was very pleased with the Logo Design product. It was very easy to use and has given me great results. ... Read more

Features

• Easy-to-use contact and customer-manager software
• Access, organize, and manage contact details
• Stay on top of schedule 24/7; share customer info securely
• Enhanced group scheduling; link to Palm OS and Pocket PC handhelds
• Includes Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Standard Edition

Reviews (9)

In terms of value, best productivity suite available
Like some of the other reviewers, I'm rather surprised at the number of negative reviews that Appleworks has received. While it is true that Appleworks is not as powerful as Microsoft Office, it is much less expensive and clearly represents a better value. The word processer part of it (the part that most people will use) is more intuitive and easier to use than Microsoft Word. True, Word is more powerful; but it costs $350 and requires a manual to use. I have never needed to use a manual to use Appleworks. You have complete control of your documents and you don't have to summon up the help application to figure out how to do common tasks like formatting paragraphs or adding links. Those who have mastered the complexities of MS Word and who require its special features may not like Appleworks. But for the rest of us, it more than meets our needs.

Also, one thing more: I have never had any trouble with Appleworks' translators from cwk to word format. I'm not sure why so many people have reported having trouble with it. I translated an entire book from Appleworks to PC MS Word, preserving the formats and special lettering instructions without any trouble at all. In any case, this wouldn't be a problem if people would show more courtesy to non-MS users (Macs and Linux) and not insist on sending them doc formatted files. PDF and rtf are far better cross-platform alternatives.

What's not to like?
Ok, I'm am sure that there are features in Word or Excel that some of you might use and the key word is might, but for the other 98% of us. Apple Works is a complete program that is full featured and easy to use. It can save and all of latest Microsoft Office file formats and that is half the battle most of the time with some of the attachments that I receive. Other than that I've been using it for about two months now and it has done everything that I have asked it to do and done it with ease. I have no problems with crashing or quiting unexpectedly under OS X. I start it and it runs and runs and runs. It's a great value even if just to open and looks at an Excel spreadsheet or Word doucument.

Chris

Great Value Suite of Software
I have been using computer word processors extensively since 1986. In 2001, I switched from being primarily a PC user to being a Mac user. And Appleworks is one of the programs I use the most.

I cannot understand the reviews on this page which slam Appleworks (especially the OSX version) for not being compatible with MS Word. I covert files back and forth from PC to Mac with no problem whatsoever. The best printer I have access to is on a PC at work. I usually write documents at home, convert them to a MS Word document, and email them to myself at work. Then at work the next day I print them. No problem.

There seems to be one glitch if you save files as a rich text file. The translator doesn't know the following characters: " '

But if you save it as a MS Word for Windows 98, 2000, ME file, you don't have this problem.

Apple, keep up the good work. The average Joe or Jane should not have to pay hundreds upon hundreds of dollars to get a solid word processor.

Tom Paine
Benton, LA
ATPaine@Lycos.Com

AppleWorks is crap
I have hoped and prayed for a Microsoft alternative. Unfortunately it is a Microsoft world, if you want to communicate with that world on a Mac use Office for Mac, it is brilliant. As much as I tried to move towards Works, I purchased it first, I could not, the spread sheet program in Works alone leaves you on a deserted island.

Save your headaches if you share any files than jump up to Office for Mac, however much that disgusts me to admits, it is a superior product.

why upgarde
Editorial review claims Appleworks 6 will translate Word documents with Dataviz translator. Last phrase is the key. Appleworks 6 does no more translation than did Appleworks 5. If you want to manage in the PC world, either buy a PC or buy Dataviz Maclink Plus. Appleworks 6 offers nothing special for compatibility in spite of the misleading editorial review. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

A professional OCR program that satisfies even the most demanding user, FineReader Professional provides unsurpassed accuracy of text recognition, excellent layout retention, and unmatched productivity.

This latest version delivers significant improvements in word accuracy and format retention, new ease-of-use features, added saving options, plus PDF conversion. As a result, FineReader 6.0 Professional is the most advanced OCR software, empowering users to easily convert paper-based documents and scanned images into editable text with superior accuracy.

The Scan&Read wizard guides users through document recognition step by step, while a tutorial offers handy, professional tips. Batch Document Support provides you with the tools you need to work with multi-page documents. Commands such as "Read", "Rotate", "Locate blocks", "Despeckle", and "Save" can all be applied universally, with control maintained through thumbnail diagnostic icons. You can even add your own comments to a page. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Very much the best
I do a great deal of OCR in my research and have scanned tens of thousands of FineReader 6 (FR6). I have also tried every other OCR software that is available for PCs. There are other good packages that can serve some needs adequately, but for my work, FR6 is superior in every respect. In particular it is substantially better than the most popular OCR program, OmniPage Pro 12, as well as quite a bit less expensive. Others might have different preferences depending on what they do and what their equipment and software are.

The bulk of my scanning/OCR involves academic articles and historical materials. For the most part I produce PDF files, although I also scan some tables to produce spreadsheets and do some scanning to Word files. Depending on the quality of the original and my precise purpose I may make a PDF with an image and hidden text, an OCR text file, or an OCR text file with images of uncertain words. I use an HP 7450 scanner connected to a Windows 2000 system with a 1.8 GHz P4 processor and 512 MB of RAM.

On this system, FR6 is quite speedy and normally can perform recognition as rapidly as the fastest of desktop scanners will scan. It offers a choice of a fully automatic mode, partly automatic modes, or a very wide selection of user-specified modes. New users will get very good results on most material using the automatic mode and can learn to use its more powerful features as their needs dictate. Even in its automatic mode FR6 is superior to other packages in recognizing difficult text, speed, tools for correcting errors that do appear, and flexibility of output.

One notable and important strength of FR 6 for my purposes is its ability to deal with the many superscripts, subscripts, and special symbols in the typical academic article. FR6, by contrast, gives reasonably good accuracy with such material and makes it easy to correct the mistakes that do crop up. Very often I can scan an entire 20-page article and find not a single mistake.

As I say, there are other products which will no doubt serve many people well. If something else comes free my advice would be to try it and see if it fills your needs. However, if you find you need something better, FR6 is the clear choice.

If you do have another product be sure to see if you qualify for a "competitive upgrade" to FR6 at an even lower price...

Recently ABBYY has brought out version 7.0, which for some reason Amazon carries only in the expensive "corporate" edition, intended for networked operations. The improvements over version 6.0 include somewhat better recognition accuracy; manual control over page splitting; ability to read PDF files, edit, and re-save the edited file in PDF or another format; and improved editing tools. It is definitely worth getting version 7.0 rather than 6.0, but it appears that you have to go to some other vendor than Amazon to get the consumer-oriented "professional" edition.

Multilingual OCR that works!
The FineReader OCR package performs as advertized. I required a package that worked with other alphabets and FineReader fit the bill. I was able to perform OCR on faint 9.5 point Czech typeface with no training -- and I got Czech spell checking to boot.The package is so simple that I failed to read the manual for the first week of use, then when I finally read it, discovered all kinds of OCR aids built into the package. The FineReader does everything I need and more. What's more, you can download a fully operational package and use it for two weeks to be sure it does what you want.

Abbyy FineReader 6.0 Professional Upgrade
Integrates well with Word. Works well under both Windows 98 and Windows XP Professional edition. Using with Mustek Bearpaw 1200 USB scanner with no problems. Marked improvement over the TextBridge software that came with the scanner. Works well with both photos, handwriting documents, and typed documents. Would highly recommend this product for both home and business use.

Register the Product to get Form Filler
I haven't used any other OCR software packages except the one that came with my scanner. Abby FinePoint is, obviously, far superior. So far, I've had good results. Tables aren't as automatic as I'd like, but things have been moving more and more quickly. It's fairly easy to format tables and graphics. I also like that it doesn't put whole pages of text in text boxes. This was one of the main reasons I decided to upgrade. It was making it difficlut to flawlessly merge multipage documents. Abbyy FinePoint is far better.

A couple of things that were't clear to me:
The Presto! OCR 4.0 that CNET recomments is made by Abbyy and is based on their v. 3.0, so you might as well go with the Abbyy 6.0. ...

You can buy the upgrade is you have ANY OCR software. I upgraded from the version of Presto! that came as Epson Smart Pannel. That makes this package a great deal.

It was also a good deal for me because if you register the product, you get Abbyy FormFiller free. The eliminates the need to ever use a typewriter again. Great for any sort of applications, in my case grant applications. It's saving me tons of time and hassle. ...

You can download a sample version .... I highly recommend trying it before buying. ... Read more

Features

• Powerful OCR application with unbeatable speed and accuracy
• Convert paper documents and PDF files into editable text
• Output to Word, Excel, Internet Explorer, WordPerfect, and more
• New user interface; high-quality display of the document image
• Flowing text mode for easier editing; enhanced Autoformat technology

Reviews (1)

great for scripts
This software allowed me to convert a script that I did not have a digital copy of in a few hours. It was simple and kept almost all the correct format. Unbelievable! I did not even know something like this was out until I bought a new printer/scanner and OCR software was on the CD. When I got this job I purchased ReadIris 9.0 and it more than paid for itself the first time I used it. Thank you IRIS! ... Read more

Product Description

PDF Converter is the world's #1 solution for instantly turning PDF files into fully- formatted documents, forms and spreadsheets - complete with text, columns, tables, and graphics. PDF Converter works within the applications that you use every day, including Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook, as well as Corel WordPerfect.

PDF Converter contains powerful new features that allow you to even convert scanned paper PDF documents such as proposals, contracts, letters and more into word processing documents and spreadsheets for editing. PDF Converter can even be used to extract charts and graphs from PDF files so they can be reused in Microsoft PowerPoint® and other applications with cut-and-paste ease!

And there's even more! PDF Converter lets you turn static PDF forms into editable Microsoft Word forms with a single mouse click. Release information trapped in PDF files and eliminate the time spent re-keying and laying out documents. PDF Converter lets everyone in your organization access, edit and share information more productively and efficiently than ever before!

PDF Converter was developed in collaboration with Microsoft, so it seamlessly integrates with the applications you use every day - Microsoft Word, Outlook, Internet Explorer, and Windows Explorer.

• Using Microsoft Word:Simply choose File/Open in Microsoft Word to instantly create a Word file from a PDF.
• Using Outlook:You can instantly turn PDF e-mail attachments into Word files - right within Microsoft Outlook!Using Internet ExplorerSimply right-click in Internet Explorer and convert a PDF file on the Web into Microsoft Word - fast and easy.
• Using Windows Explorer:Just right-click in Windows Explorer to instantly create a Word file.

Features

• Simply choose File/Open in Microsoft Word to instantly create a Word file from a PDF
• Instantly turn PDF e-mail attachments into Word files within Microsoft Outlook
• Exact rendering of the original document's content - nothing is lost in the translation or otherwise misinterpreted when it is retyped
• PDF Converter allows completely electronic creation and editing, saving on paper, ink, fax, and courier costs

Product Description

PDF Create! 3.0 ... Read more

Features

• Combine different formats into one PDF - Easily merge Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Visio, JPEG, TIFF and PDF files into a single multi-page PDF document
• Instantly turn entire Web pages into searchable PDF files that you can easily save and share
• Archive important E-mail and attachments into searchable PDF files that can be saved on your PC

Features

• New OCR technology for rapid and accurate information taken straight from your business cards
• Intelligent business card processing with automatic orientation, deskewing & cropping
• Powerful contact database for archiving, searching, selecting and exporting your contacts
• Define which fields you want to print as a list, or as labels -- all popular label formats are supported
• Synchronizes with your PDA or conatct database - Pocket PC, Outlook, ACT!, Lotus Notes, GoldMine & more

Reviews (1)

cardiris3
This operates pretty simply, but for the price I would have expected more features. The OCR is fair with only 10-15% of the cards populating the fields all correctly.
Major drawbacks are that cards with black color in them split into two cards.
No crop or straighten tool (the program claims to auto-straighten but does not work well)I fixed this by using an Avery (7600) clear 3 ring binder card holder page to keep the cards straight while scanning. This has helped a lot. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

AppleWorks 6.2 combines six core capabilities--word processing, page layout, painting, spreadsheet, database, and presentation--in one easy application. By seamlessly integrating these capabilities with Apple's QuickTime digital technologies, AppleWorks 6.2 makes it easy to incorporate text, spreadsheets, digital photos, images, sounds, and movies into a single document.

Sharing documents is a breeze with AppleWorks 6.2. New translators for Microsoft Word and Excel files let you open and modify these files from within AppleWorks. You can even save AppleWorks documents in these formats to share with friends and colleagues.

If you're running AppleWorks 6.2 on Mac OS X you'll notice additional benefits. Preemptive multitasking means that you can work on AppleWorks projects while iTunes rips your CD collection in the background, and your system will still stay responsive. The advanced Quartz graphics system in Mac OS X lets you save your print previews of any AppleWorks document as a PDF file. Anyone with Adobe Acrobat Reader on any platform can view and print these PDF files.

An expanding library of templates--stored on the Internet--can be downloaded via AppleWorks 6.2 without launching a browser or decompressing files. Many of the templates are designed by affiliated organizations, such as the AppleWorks Users Group, and new templates are added regularly. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Very good software, well, the best for me.
It is amazing software, really smart and pleasure to use. There are some things to improve to my taste, but overall it is definitely worth the money. In two hours of the actual using it appears by far more convenient that notorious MS Office. Extremely rich applications fulfilled by right tools. It is not overwhelmed with unneeded garbage but with smart and well organized things.
As one reviewer has mentioned it isn't Word. it is better. You don't have a filling that some one staying and breathing into your neck.
BTW, MS Word brought wrong habits and misleading conceptions, but if you know how to work , this one is much more productive tool.
All pieces well coordinated and inter working.
Very recommend. The interface a bit different and a few things to learn, but since you started to use it there is no way to back to MS Office. MS Office has more features in the same way as track has more horsepower, but will you drive it on vacation rather than coupe ?
One more thing to say, there is no any issues with MS Office compatibility. I converted many different documents and had no difficulties at all.

It's not Word.
Let me make one thing clear: AppleWorks is not Microsoft Word. It is not Microsoft Office. And it is not a substitute for Word or Office, just as a Honda Civic isn't a substitute for a Hummer. It is, however, much easier to use, much less intrusive, and much less expensive. If you need Microsoft Office's features, by all means buy a copy. If you need to exchange files with Office users, it's probably a good idea to buy Office. But If you need to get work done quickly and easily, grab a copy of AppleWorks. All the modules (Word processor, graphics, spreadsheet, and presentation) are seamlessly integrated. Screen clutter is minimal (though the toolbars could be smaller.) Basic (and I stress basic) compatibility with Word and Excel files is included. But its strongest point is its ability to stay out of your way: it doesn't try to reformat your work to suit it's own ends, or make grammatical decisions for you, and the on-line help is helpful, not intrusive.

Easy to use with many good features.
A great application. If you don't want to spend the extra money and get Office X then this is the application for you. It's very easy to use and has a lot of great features like templates and clip art plus, you can make your own templates and clip art. It has many features that Office X has except it doesn't have grammar check. That is the only draw back but half the time I never paid attention to it when using Office 2000 for windows so this isn't a big deal for me. I have converted many documents from Office 2000 to AppleWorks with no problems. I also use it for college and I have yet to feel the need to get Office X. Some other features it has are spell check, a word counter, and it can read back your documents to you!! Try it out. You won't be sorry! I use this application on an iBook running Mac OS X 10.2.4

Great upgrade from office mac
I am a computer programmer and have been using MS Office since office 97 was released. I bought an Ibook 2 weeks ago in order to get away from the Wintel platform (and Linux too). The appleworks program is great it lets me create documents that MS Office can read and will also open MS documents. AppleWorks (as far as I can tell) has all the power of MS Office and is way easier to use. I have only been using it for a couple of weeks and can already create better documents faster using appleworks. I have not used the presentation part of AppleWorks yet but I assume its as good as the rest but, for presentations I reccommend keynote.

Well worth your money!
...Appleworks Office does everything I want an office program to do and it's stable and reliable. (I'm running system 9.2 on a G4). Another reviewer claims it isn't compatable with other programs, but fails to give any useful specifics, such as what programs and how it isn't compatable with them. I ignored that review and bought this software, and I'm glad I did. ... Read more

Features

• Convert PDF files to Microsoft Word documents
• Eliminates the need to re-key and re-format PDF documents
• Accurately retains the layout of the original PDF file
• Open PDF files downloaded from the Web or received as e-mail attachments
• Does not edit encrypted PDFs

Reviews (12)

I am glad to own it, but I am not taking it to the Prom.
As they would say on American Bandstand, I would give this title a 65 - the lyrics are ok but its easy to dance to. I do A LOT of pdf crap (and i hate pdf) both converting too and from. For some conversions (NOT COMPLEX GRAPHICS) it works well, for others it is so-so.
It does do a BETTER job, converting from pdf - at least on the long, complex-formated text documents - which are my primary beast of burden, than Adobe PRO 6.0. Howver Scansoft has some quirk's that potential buyers need to be aware of -
1. It messes up haeaders and footers - it captures them just fine but puts them in funky places as a table and of couse screws up the page numbering,,,
2. On occasion (and this is the frustrating part) it converts text into graphics,,,
3. It handles check boxes and the other vbs features of WORD poorly, often creating them as graphics
4. It routeinely messes up autonumbering, again often picking up a number and making it a graphic
However, having said all that - it is quicker/faster/better than Adobe Pro 6.0. for Word conversions. Sometimes its a dozen hand fixes per page, other times one or two, but i will gladly trade that for rekeying or scanning.
For the record, I have an old version of Omni-Pro and DID NOT try to use its features as suggested.
I am glad I own it but I dont think I am taking it to the prom.

Finally
It's about time that someone came out with this product! PDF files are so difficult to deal with, and our firm often has no way to track down the original. PDF Converter is fast and gets all of us back into Word so we can make adjustments. We've been using it for contracts, but I'm sure it would work great for any files. Documents look perfect. Great Product!

PDF Converter with Potential
Having used this product on large (more than 500 pages) and complex documents, my conclusion is that this could be a very good product. Unfortunately, the software has some logic flaws that cause it to fail repeatedly on specfic text formatting. For example, consider the following listing:
a. Data Element
b. Data Element Tag
c. Element Number
d. Group Number
The application always fails on this and similar listings by randomly deleting the new paragraph marker and setting the right margin incorrectly. Too bad that Scansoft support, which could alert developers to this type of problem, is the worst I have ever encountered. Perhaps someone from Scansoft will read this review and fix this problem and other problems encountered by customers.

Stumbles on Complex Documents
I downloaded this software to convert a two-page PDF document into an editable Word 2000 document. Much of the text converted well but the more complex areas of my PDF file, those that were contained inside of tables, were poorly done. Portions of it were rendered as images(!), while other parts came through properly as text inside of tables. However, much of that text was inside of frames, or even nested frames. Frames are Word objects that are tricky at best, and frustratingly hard to deal with at worst. Removing a frame often removes its contained text as well. Either way, editing the converted document so as to make it look like the original was very difficult. In the case of the portions that converted to images, it was impossible.
The product installs/uninstalls easily and seems to run well. If you're converting simple PDF files, this product may do the job but for complex documents, especially ones containing tables, I would not recommend it.

Those Dreaded PDFs
Yes, it converts pdf files to word. No, it does not do a perfect job if you have tables or graphics; and the formatting tends to get messed up. BUT...it sure beats retyping a multi-page document.

And those protected word files? I have found that if you make them pdf and then convert them back to Word with this program, you now have a document that you can edit. Yaaaah!!!! ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

OmniPage Pro X eliminates retyping, saving you time and streamlining document production. Create, convert, edit, and distribute digital documents with superior accuracy and improved formatting. Choose from a host of innovative capabilities, such as table recognition. Pro X also adds PDF functionality to extend the software's value beyond the paper world. Now you can convert PDFs into editable documents with a single click, or save paper documents as PDF files with similar ease. All of which adds up to increased productivity and efficiency. Plus, there's the added ease of working with a program built specifically for Mac OS X. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Doesn't satisfy this long-time user
I've used Omnipage for years, going through almost all the versions since the first. When an upgrade appeared it consistently offered incremental improvements and I rarely had to even glance at the user's manual.

Not so with this version. In some key respects it is not apparent how it works even after consulting the manual. There are many more errors in text and formatting. Saves don't even go smoothly. I would guess that something that formerly took me 45 minutes now takes me several hours, including corrections. And I still don't know why the text selection doesn't flow from one page to the next in a multi-page document, as it used to. This product should have been put in the "leave well enough along category." ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Standard software lets business professionals quickly and easily convert any Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, or other paper or electronic document to a reliable Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) file. Adobe PDF files preserve the visual integrity of documents so that they can be e-mailed to colleagues and then viewed and printed on a variety of platforms using free Adobe Reader software.

Acrobat 6.0 Standard software’s intuitive review tools allow business professionals to comment on documents electronically and make it easy to track, manage, and incorporate feedback into original documents. Acrobat’s full set of features help you streamline communications and reduce the costs and inefficiencies associated with paper-based review processes.

Password protection lets you secure files to prevent unauthorized users from opening and viewing sensitive documents. Apply permissions with 128-bit encryption that control whether users are allowed to view, edit, comment on, sign, or print Adobe PDF files.And with digital signature support you can approve final documents, verify authenticity, and build a list of trusted certificates.

Note: This is an upgrade version. ... Read more

Reviews (53)

Great Software
This software Create PDF files from almost any word processing or html programs with very effective compression ratio almost 1/10 the original size. You can also convert post script ps files into PDF files. You can extract pictures, text from any already created PDF files as well.
With this version you can also create an interactive electronic forms similar to the tax forms. This upgrade version will only install on your system if you have Adobe acrobat 4 or 5 installed. This version only works with windows XP, 2000, NT with latest service package.
The difference between the acrobat 6.0 and the acrobat 5.0 is not so big. The new version is optimized for intel P4 systems and it's slightly faster than the old version.

Upgrade is no help for Real Estate
As a Realtor who is pushing the envelope, attempting to move to digital file keeping, digital recording, digital faxing, and digital signing, the concept of Adobe Acrobat is extremely helpful. I've been using Adobe Acrobat since version 4. Version 5 was a very useful upgrade, worth every cent. Version 6 was a grand waste of money and has turned into a waste of time. Files take longer to save in Adobe Acrobat 6, but they do end up being smaller, so maybe there is a more advanced compression algorithm at work. Nevertheless, files do take about twice as long to save in the new version.

Furthermore, at least for my line of work, I see no useful additions to the software. The interface looks a little fancier, and a little more advanced with more curved lines and a splash screen with transparency...(everybody together now, "Oooooh, aaaaaaah"). But, at least for my line of work, I have not seen any productivity or security upgrades which make the investment worthwhile. Save yourself the money and stay with version 5.0.

Unfortunately, it seems that the other reviewers' negative comments are right on the money.

Waste of time and money.
I bought the 6.0 upgrade without reading the reviews. Woe to the foolish. It slowed WORD to a crawl, brought DtSearch to it's knees, and twice locked my system up so tightly I couldn't get the task manager open.

I didn't waste any additional time seeing how slow it was at its own tasks. I'll take everyone's word for it.

Less than one day on the machine. I've gone back to 5.0.

Lasted 1 day on my PC
I downloaded an evaluation copy of Acrobat 6 before I read the reviews here. I can confirm what others are saying: unlike the upgrade from 4.0 to 5.0, 6.0 doesn't offer the average user additional usefulness over 5.0.

It's also much slower to load and takes twice as long to creat .pdf files. The interface is completely different, so there will be a steep learning curve for users upgrading from previous editions. Sometimes, software developers just screw one up, and this one is such an upgrade.

Pay close attention to the features you need: If you just want to print files to .pdf, you don't need all the stuff 6.0 offers. You'll never use 80% of the features they've added.

After one day, I got frustrated, realized I didn't have the time to learn an entirely new piece of software so that I could simply continue to make .pdf files, and uninstalled it.

Lesson learned: Check for reviews FIRST.

Here is the Skinny on the Deal
By the time I was done reading the reviews for Adobe Acrobat 6.0 I was depressed. Not only do I not have Windows XP, or Windows 2000, or NT installed in my machine (The only operating systems that will work with 6) I also couldn't muster up the confidence in the product after so many people were giving it the thumbs down. I want to create an eBook, and Adobe Reader is the most popular reader out there, with some 400 million, to a half a billion users with it installed. What a dilemma. I kept coming back to read some more. Finally I found the answer. I bought a new Adobe Acrobat 5.0 here at Amazon from one of their vendors, and it works great with my Windows 98SE. I planned on buying the 6.0 upgrade after they got the bugs out, and or I got a new computer with XP. Then I found out that 5.0 was the only version before, and that was the professional version. 6.0 Standard is a geared down version of 5. Ok, so it has some additional features, but it is missing even more of them.
So what's the skinny on the deal? For what I paid for a new 5 that is the full program, unregistered, and upgradeable, plus what I would have to pay here at Amazon for the 6 Professional Upgrade, I saved 80 bucks, and wound up with both versions 5 and 6 pro. Which as I mentioned are both professional versions. If I bought 5 and upgraded to 6 standard, I would only spend a little more for both versions. (About 4 percent more for standard, and about 20 percent less for professional) That way if 6 standard turned out to be as bad as many were saying it is, I would have 5 also.
In the final analysis, I am using 5 and am super excited about the new capabilities that Adobe Acrobat gives you. I'm hoping that by the time I get a new machine with XP on it, Adobe will come out with 6.something, or a second edition of 6 etc. with the fixes built in.
I'm not the only one to come to this conclusion. I noticed in the sales rank at the time I bought it and wrote this review, that 5 was outselling 6. Also I noticed that in the "Those who bought 5 also bought this" section, it had a special note that said, 47% of the people who bought 5 also bought the 6 upgrade. If your running XP, 2000, or NT, get them both. That way all the bases are covered.
Check out the reviews on 5 you'll be surprised how everybody raves about it. To be perfectly honest with you, if I had an XP machine, I would have ordered the 6 upgrade at the same time. Hope this helps. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

FineReader Sprint 4.0 turns your scanned documents into editable electronic files in seconds. This versatile optical character recognition (OCR) scanning software features full-color OCR and full layout retention. FineReader seamlessly saves your documents to popular office programs such as Microsoft Excel, Word, and other Office 2000 applications, as well as in WordPerfect and WordPro formats. It retains page layout, including columns, tables, graphics, and fonts. And, if you've got a document that's less than ideal to begin with, no worries--you'll still get great results, and you'll never have to retype a document again.

FineReader Sprint 4.0 delivers over 99 percent accuracy. One-button scanning and recognition makes using the software a breeze. This program recognizes typographic text in 53 languages, ranging from Afrikaans to Ukrainian and every language in between. Save recognition results in text and Rich Text file formats. FineReader handily batch-processes images with great speed and identifies unrecognizable characters by bolding text. You can manually mark blocks as well as set scanner brightness and resolution. With full support for the Twain protocol, this program is compatible with just about every Twain-compliant scanner available. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Careful with demo
The demo will not save your files but will not tell you why. It looks like the file is saved but it is not. The resulting Word documents, PDFs and HTML pages will be empty. It turns out that it is a limitation of the demo version, but the program does not bother to tell you. I think this is rude and misleading.

After a Quick Look
I received the standard version, but did not know the CD has two versions; the "Pro" version is included as a try/ buy demo, while the standard version is primitive. Text recognition is good, but preservation of the origninal layout is poor. I was dismayed when the scan result completely dropped a column of numbers on my first trial scan, and would not pick it up unless I manually blocked the column, but then everything else was dropped. I tried a scan combining text and graphics, and the result was very garbled. The resulting file transfered well into WordPerfect, but not into MS Word, as claimed. The "Pro" version did somewhat better, but not to my satisfaction. I need something else. This product is supposed to recognize characters of 53 languages (especially Russian), so for some people that may be the deciding feature.

The great OCR software
I think it is a best software on OCR market. It's easy-to-use, fast, multilingual. It has a lot of possibilities, works with cells, rotated texts, graphics and so. The try-and-buy version are aviable. Enjoy! ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Does not work well - Go with Scansoft instead
The I used to have Scansoft Textbridge and Omnipage and got ReadIris Pro to change. I mad a mistake the OCR from Scansoft is way better, it performs very well and Textbridge is much easier to use than Readiris.

Don't do my mistake, stick to Scansoft, they also have a better customer and technical support than IRIS

Worst OCR software I've ever seen
Apart from the program crashing every other time it is used, the features are archaic and besides, it requires you register within 30 days of installation or else ... it blows up - just like win XP.

I will recommend OmniPage any day over "readiris". I'm extremely disappointed over the purchase and unfortunately, no money back on this junk.

Great software solution for scanning!
I am very happy with Readiris Pro 8. It was very fast and accurate. I was impressed at the quality of software I received for the price. The program was really easy to use and I have already gotten my money's worth out of this program in just a week.

The best scanner software on the market!
I've tried them all, and IRIS's new 8.0 version truly stands in a category by itself. Simply to use, fast and accurate, the product easily scanned my documents and converted into editable text. The software turned my document into a PDF file without using Acrobat. Amazing! Most impressed with the perfect layout retention ... Read more

Features

• Comprehensive Windows Training in a 5 Program Tutorial Set
• Covers Windows XP Home & Professional Editions
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