Features

• Create PDF files with the click of a button from Microsoft applications and AutoCAD
• Create a single Adobe PDF document from multiple sources, including portions of Web pages and previously combined Adobe PDF documents
• Use the included Adobe LiveCycle Designer 7.0 software to create PDF forms that look like the paper forms they replace
• Easily attach source documents such as spreadsheets, multimedia files, images, and drawings to an Adobe PDF document
• Enable anyone with free Adobe Reader 7.0 software to use highlighter, sticky note, pen, and other commenting tools

Features

• Create PDF files with the click of a button from Microsoft applications and AutoCAD
• Create a single Adobe PDF document from multiple sources, including portions of Web pages and previously combined Adobe PDF documents
• Use the included Adobe LiveCycle Designer 7.0 software to create PDF forms that look like the paper forms they replace
• Easily attach source documents such as spreadsheets, multimedia files, images, and drawings to an Adobe PDF document
• Enable anyone with free Adobe Reader 7.0 software to use highlighter, sticky note, pen, and other commenting tools

Features

• Easily create Adobe PDF files—create PDF documents with one-button ease from Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Windows users can also convert to PDF from Access, Internet Explorer, Outlook, and Publisher.
• Enjoy improved performance—with improved performance you can quickly convert, collect, and organize Adobe PDF documents.
• Create Adobe PDF documents from Microsoft Outlook—Collect, convert, and organize Microsoft Outlook e-mails into searchable Adobe PDF documents. Include attachments, links, and bookmarks sorted by sender, date, or subject.
• Assemble documents—create a single Adobe PDF file from multiple sources—including Web pages and e-mail—to deliver one professional document that anyone can open using free Adobe Reader 7.0 software.
• Protect sensitive and confidential documents—control documents inside and outside the firewall, online and offline.

Features

• Create PDF files with the click of a button from Microsoft applications and AutoCAD
• Create a single Adobe PDF document from multiple sources, including portions of Web pages and previously combined Adobe PDF documents
• Use the included Adobe LiveCycle Designer 7.0 software to create PDF forms that look like the paper forms they replace
• Easily attach source documents such as spreadsheets, multimedia files, images, and drawings to an Adobe PDF document
• Enable anyone with free Adobe Reader 7.0 software to use highlighter, sticky note, pen, and other commenting tools

Features

• Essential tool for research, writing, and publishing
• Create instant bibliographies; organize references and images
• Build libraries of any size; new reference types and fields
• Add, edit, and display references in any language
• Search online bibliographic databases

Product Description

iWork '05 ... Read more

Features

• Integrated iLife media browser and photo masking
• Create, present, and publish work quickly and easily
• Cinema-quality slide presentations; streamlined, yet powerful word processing
• 40+ professionally designed templates with multiple page designs
• Freeform graphics canvas; easy-to-use text styles, charts, and tables

Reviews (16)

Don't Underestimate This Program.
A number of reviewers have commented upon how easy this program is and, I suppose, in one sense it is, especially if you stick to using the templates.However, as one who has had occasion to work with "Adobe Pagemaker," this program can do sophisticated page layout and, as such, there will be a learning curve for the inexperienced.

But, the User Manual is good and there are good books coming out, like one from Visual Start in July, that will help people learn.

It is wrong to think of this program as a word processor "in competition with" Word."MS Word" is a robust word processor; "Pages," as its name implies, is a page layout program.Having also worked with "MS Publisher," the real point of comparison and not "MS Word," "Pages" far exceeds "Publisher" in capabilities and yet for relatively simple layouts is as easy as "Publisher" to use.

I have not as yet put any real strain on the program, but at first blush, on my Powerbook G4 1.5, speed of operations is just fine.Yes, as a few reviewers have pointed out, some of the palettes could be more elegantly combined.One tends to get a clutter of open palettes.But, these are refinements that will be made in future editions, I am sure.

Bottom line: If you want to layout pages with a lot of the sophistication possible in the more expensive "Quark" and "PageMaker" programs; if you want to be able to export your documents to universal portable PDF file format and print out beautiful documents; if you want to pay, basically, only about $40 for these benefits ["Keynotes," the other half of iwork represents another $40], then buy "Pages."

And, if you are a novice with respect to not only page layout programs but also to very robust word programs like "Word," don't expect that everything will be simple.You will have to learn, but you will be rewarded relatively quickly.

I almost didn't buy it....
I thought, "I have MS Office for the Mac, why do I need iWork?" Was I wrong!

Okay fine I suppose I don't really NEED it. But it is a great program, and worth the price. The ability to export my work as a .pdf file is worth the price by itself. The Pages interface is much better, cleaner than Word. And the templates are suprisingly useful. I created a web page by costomizing a template and exporting it as HTML. I twas easy and quick and the result looked great. Most of the people I work with are PC users and because they were unfamiliar with pages the web Page looked fresh, not like a modified copy of someone elses work.

I use my Mac for research mostly and the ability to save documents as .pdf files is very valuable as they are searchable. With Tigers ability to search the text within a .pdf I can now save my work as a .pdf and later find everytime a particular work appears in the fines I've created. This has made cross-refrecing very easy and fast. I now use a program called Pyramid to create a "mind map" of my work and create links from the "map" to refrences in the .pdfs.

I don't use Keynote as much. I t more visially appealing than Powerpoint and pretty easy to use. The ability to use Quicktime movies in the presentation is helpful and the ability to export as a Powerpoint file is nice.

Great program if Microsoft can develop an imitation
Keynote and Pages, the two applications included in iWork, were flawless under the Panther operating system. The Keynote app has always suffered from its inability to share with PC users. Oh yeah, I know I can convert a Keynote file to Powerpoint, .swf, QuickTime, or PDF, but the problem is that, especially when converting to PowerPoint, Keynote loses all its buttery-rich goodness. It's a PowerPoint problem, I realize, but without a Keynote viewer, there's no way around it. Thus, Mac folks must rely on Microsoft for slide presentations if they don't want to lug around their Mac laptop.

Also, installing Tiger will mess up the purchased Keynote templates you have saved. Even reinstalling them won't help.

My humble advice is to wait a couple of years until Apple fixes the bugs in Tiger, then MAYBE think about using a Mac. Until then, I'm switching back from a Mac to a PC.

Big time winner!
iWork comes with two programs, Pages (a word processor) and Keynote (Apple's version of PowerPoint).Both of these programs are very simple to use and very effective.Without a doubt, there are better programs available, but their cost several hundred dollars more and for the average user don't provided more bank for the buck.

When I first turned on Pages I thought "How cheesey!"But as I got to using it I found my first impression was totally wrong.It's simple appearance is very deceptive.This is a word processing program that can do everything that is needed for ordinary personal documents and beyond.You have to be willing to explore the program to discover its gems, but once you learn were things are you will find it a very fast and easy to use.The real value of the program is its desk top publishing.The 40 some templates let you create profession grade newsletters, journals, resumes, invitations, marketing brochures, and many other kinds of documents.This is worth the price of the software alone.It seamlessly works with your iPhoto, iTunes and iMovies.This is one powerful piece of software.With it you can produce commercial grade color brochures or newsletters at an entry level price.

Keynote makes wonderful multimedia presentations, and like Pages is seamlessly integrated with iPhoto, iTunes and iMovies.If you are using graphics or want to import photos into your presentation, Keynote is significantly easier, quicker, and simpler to use that PowerPoint.You can't miss with this program.You can even save you presentation as a PowerPoint, Quicktime, or PDF file or post it on the internet for all to see with the easy of a single click.

I have used both Microsoft Word and PowerPoint and keep them on my hard drive but rarely use them.As my skill with Pages and Keynote has grown I have found them to be more than sufficient in producing quality documents from personal letters, teaching handouts, to professional grade overhead presentations.
For the cost, iWorks cannot be beat!And you will not be disappointed.

iWork `05 System Requirements
- Macintosh computer with a 500 mhz or faster Power PC G3, G4 or G5 (G4 for PowerBook); G4 or G5 recommended
- 128 MB of physical RAM (512MB recommended)
- 8 MB of video memory (32MB recommended)
- Mac OS X v10.3.6 or later
- QuickTime 6.5 or later

Pages is a disappointment
I had high hopes for Pages, Apple's new Word Processing Application, but these hopes were shattered once I tried to design a newsletter with it.

I find the interface unintuitive, unlike most Apple software, and the templates are not easily customizable. What's more, the application continues to mysteriously "erase" work that I have done, even after I have saved it.

Apple, I know you can do better than this... ... Read more

Features

• Easily create Adobe PDF files—create PDF documents with one-button ease from Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Windows users can also convert to PDF from Access, Internet Explorer, Outlook, and Publisher.
• Enjoy improved performance—with improved performance you can quickly convert, collect, and organize Adobe PDF documents.
• Create Adobe PDF documents from Microsoft Outlook—Collect, convert, and organize Microsoft Outlook e-mails into searchable Adobe PDF documents. Include attachments, links, and bookmarks sorted by sender, date, or subject.
• Assemble documents—create a single Adobe PDF file from multiple sources—including Web pages and e-mail—to deliver one professional document that anyone can open using free Adobe Reader 7.0 software.
• Protect sensitive and confidential documents—control documents inside and outside the firewall, online and offline.

Features

• A productivity suite with a host of ground-breaking new features
• Easily share ideas across platforms and around the globe
• Confidently create stunning documents with impressive new tools
• Spend less time managing info and more time using it
• Includes Microsoft Virtual PC for Mac Version 7

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. ... 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

Product Description

PDF Converter Pro 3.0 ... Read more

Features

• Combine multiple source files, such as JPEGs,Word files and Web pages, to create a single PDF file to share your work as an integrated document.
• PDF Converter delivers everything the business user needs, including powerful document and form creation, conversion and editing.
• Instantly create 100% industry-standard PDF files that can be read, printed, or processed.
• For the first time you can edit directly within a PDF file. Add copy, rearrange words, even change the position of charts and graphics.
• Convert PDF Files into Microsoft Word, Excel and Corel WordPerfect documents.

Reviews (1)

A solid alternative to Adobe Acrobat
I found this to be an amazing PDF product - but its not from Adobe.I have used Acrobat in the past, but this does things that Acrobat doesn't do - like turn PDF back into Word, and turning forms into fill-able forms. I use scansoft Paperport too, and this works perfect with the PDF files from scanners. ... Read more

Features

• Enhanced features for greater productivity and easier reporting
• Format painter for faster report formatting
• Enhanced Excel export for greater end-user flexibility
• 100-percent Java reporting component for J2EE applications
• Includes introductory offer of Crystal Enterprise Express Edition

Features

• Microsoft's desktop enterprise project management program
• Used with Project Server 2003 and Project Web Access
• Offers all the tools found in Project Standard
• Provides powerful enterprise project management capabilities when used with Project Server
• Use for portfolio management, modeling, resource management, and project collaboration

Amazon.com Review

Any business that requires documents to be shared, reviewed, and editedacross broad networks will undoubtedly benefit from Adobe Acrobat 5.0. If you'venever used Acrobat before, you'll be amazed at how easy it is to convert Officedocuments and Web pages to PDF files (portable document format). If you alreadyuse Acrobat, new features and enhancements--including the ability to uploaddocuments to Web sites and intranets--make this version a worthwhile upgrade.

Installation is quick and easy; within 15 minutes of opening the box we weresaving Web pages as PDF files and adding comments to our documents. New usersmay want to take a tour around the help sections (either online Help or tooltips) to get acquainted with the program. In addition, checking out the helpsection will ensure you don't miss out on some of the more hidden featureswithin the application, such as color management and timesaving Windows and Macshortcuts.

One of the most important new features of version 5.0 is the ability to developnew documents from PDF files. You can now save the PDF file to Rich Text Format(RTF), and then edit the document using your word processor. Another importantnew feature is the ability to create interactive forms, which actually look alot like their paper counterparts. And once you figure out how to upload theseforms to your company intranet, you can share them with all relevant teammembers. Team members can even sign these forms, using a password-protecteddigital signature.

As always, the ability to comment on documents and Web pages remains animportant reason to use Acrobat. A toolbar on the left-hand side gives userseasy access to the list of comment tools, which range from highlighting tools,note boxes, pencil and line tools, and strikeout tools which let you erase linesof text. Once you've marked up a file or Web page, you can send the file to teammembers, business contacts and clients. As long as they have the Acrobat Reader(available free from Adobe's Web site), they should be able to read these files. And Acrobat retains the quality of your documents when you print them, so youdon't have any nasty surprises when you pick up your documents from theprinter.

Companies with employees in different physical locations can only benefit fromAcrobat 5.0. While version 4.0 is obviously still a strong and very usefulproduct, upgrading to Acrobat 5.0 promises a host of Internet-ready new featuresdesigned to accompany your business to the next level of high-speedcommunication. --Gisele Toueg ... Read more

Reviews (60)

Much needed upgrade
Acrobat for Windows (and other Adobe software) is expensive. Way too much. Every Adobe program costs hundreds of dollars, and only recently they started offering product suites that greatly reduce the cost of ownership. Acrobat is included in every such collection. The problem with such collections (4 programs) is that the price tag approaches 4 digits. All of these suites contain Acrobat (4.0), the heading program of "e-paper solutions". If the changes from version 3.0 to version 4.0 were profound, then the change to version 5.0 is much more than substantial, it's overwhelming.

REMARKS FOR FIRST-TIME USERS: If you don't already know that, here is a short, but important message for newcomers to the PDF world: if you only need to read PDF files - you do not need Adobe Acrobat - just download a free Acrobat *Reader* from Adobe website. If you need to create the simplest possible version of PDF documents, there are free tools on the web that will allow you to do that. Acrobat is a powerful program that is designed to assist you in almost every aspect of publishing electronic documents online, or sharing them in a multi-platform environment. Hence, as this software is expensive - you might reconsider your purchase. If you regularly publish important stuff online and you work in a potentially multi-platform environment or the whole network AND you think seriously about your work, then Acrobat is for you (this is why I tested and bought yet another upgrade). Nevertheless, this powerful tool may be too much. If you need to distribute files among friends or post some messages online, you might consider using HTML (available even via any word-processing software like Word). PDF format is really designed to be multi-platform - and you have to pay a "nice" price for the opportunity to create such documents.

WHY IS THE UPGRADE WORTH YOUR ATTENTION: For the first time in Acrobat history you are able to RESTRUCTURE existing PDF documents. It's especially useful when you no longer have the original version of the file from which PDF was created. To this end, Acrobat uses the RTF format recognizable by every word processor. Acrobat can publish user-interactive documents online - with integrated (yet still limited) options used in productivity office suites: calculation, spell-checking, multi-user collaboration. You can specify permissions on distributed documents, like allowing/disallowing printing, changing or copying text to clipboard. Newly supported encryption is now 128 bit. Finally, FINALLY, Adobe decided to simplify the user interface a little. Now, more than ever, Acrobat toolbars are much more customizable - you can arrange them in the floating Photoshop-type way, or use all toolbars (including new formatting toolbar) at once, as in Microsoft software. This is a step in a good direction. Last, but not least, you have a PDF repair utility. It is especially useful when you use a browser plug-in (Acrobat integrates with MSIE and Netscape) to save a web page, or capture it and convert to PDF. There is a high probability that the file will include unnecessary portions of html code, including scripts. That's a very good reason to upgrade, if not anything else.

REMARKS: PDF writer (a simple PDF-producer included as a "virtual" PDF printing option) fails more often than not and in order to have correct results, it's better to use Distiller (a full-featured virtual PDF printing engine) which may be not user-friendly to new users. Still, in this version 5.0 the old truth remains the same: not every graphics object you have in your document will be converted - sometimes you will get a blacked area instead of the picture. There is no other way around than experimenting with the file type, which may be confusing in some productivity applications.

SUMMARY: Powerful tool for those who really need multi-platform secure document creation and distribution. It's still relatively-user unfriendly. If you have already used a previous version, 4.0., do not hesitate. If you are contemplating first-time purchase, read the above remarks and think twice. That's of course if you have enough money to buy Acrobat.

For functionality and reliable cross-platform compatibility.
Acrobat 5.0 can convert any file type from its application's print command into a PDF, which, when viewed by someone with the free Acrobat Reader, will look the same as you created it, irrespective of their monitor's resolution setting, or computer platform. This means that a document containing text and images will look correct on screen and when printed. At present, the Adobe PDF format is the only means of achieving this.

You can create a navigation path within your PDF using the Bookmarks feature. Highlight and add annotations to sections of the document. And include hyperlinks as in an HTML page, etc.

Using Acrobat to create a bookmarked photo-gallery, for example, will result in a file much smaller than an equivalent HTML item when you use Acrobat's screen-optimised Distiller settings, and with all the images retained within the PDF itself, instead of split between a contents folder and its associated HTML page. The PDF can be secured so that your images and text are secure from simple pilfering.

The security settings in Acrobat 5.0 are a little more comprehensive than was available in 4.0. Examples being password encryption at 128 bits, and print resolution options of high and low. Even so, PDF security is a matter of hot debate at present, as is security in any computer format. So don't get overly confident. Only regard a secured PDF as being safe from access or tampering by Joe Public. In the case of my photo-gallery example I can secure the PDF from interference in the Reader and the application by using a password. But the images can still be extracted in a PC by simply hitting the print-screen key and then pasting the clipboard contents into an image application such as Photoshop. This also applies to text which can then saved as a TIFF file and processed in an OCR application such as Fine Reader 5.0 Pro, or by straight transcription.

Some features are now more easily accessed: Distiller and Security settings being two.

Whether or not Acrobat 5.0 is a major improvement over 4.0 is superfluous, since 4.0 will soon be unavailable. 5.0 does everything that 4.0 did, and more, but some of the features are not backwards compatible with earlier versions of the reader. Users of your files will have to be forewarned if you are using such features, to upgrade their reader. Adobe claim over 200 million Acrobat Reader installations, but that includes readers of 3.0, 4.0, and 4.05 vintage. An example of incompatibility would be an access password set at 128 bits. The recipient must have the 5.0 reader installed to gain entry. Sorry to rabbit on about this, but it is a current point of contention as to why PDFs are not used as often as they might be. Joe Public seems to have an aversion to updating even their internet browser, which is why web-masters have such a fun time keeping their web-sites as compatible as possible. PDFs can be used instead of HTML pages on your web-site but for maximum compatibility you will have to ensure that all important features can be read by a 3.0 reader. Bit of a pain, but there you are. Keep your PDFs simple and there shouldn't be a problem.

When you buy Acrobat 5.0, and you haven't any prior experience, I would recommend that you buy and work your way through Adobe's Acrobat 5.0 - Classroom in a Book. This, in conjunction with the Acrobat help guide ( Help > Help guide ), will tell you all that you need to know. Methodically work your way through the classroom book first though. It'll be a lot easier if you do.

A well designed PDF is the best way for you to communicate your intentions whether that be an e-book, technical supplement, or a photo-gallery

This is the best deal going right now for Acrobat
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 all the rest of the professional features that 5 has.
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.

Merely a Stepping Stone
Since, for some unknown reason, Adobe doesn't offer a direct upgrade path from Acrobat 3 to Acrobat 6, I bought this Acrobat 5 Upgrade merely so I could qualify for a free upgrade to Acrobat 6. Not only is this silly of Adobe, it's also expensive. Instead of buying an Acrobat 6 package, sticking my old Acrobat 3 CD into the drive, and continuing on my way without further hassle or expense, I had to buy the Acrobat 5 upgrade, go to the Adobe website to find their customer support phone number, call them via their 800 number, get them copies of the receipt, pay a token shipping cost, and then install the new software. What's even worse is that I've spent over six weeks trying to do that. Amazon got me the package immediately. But, so far, I've had to talk to Adobe (at their expense) five times. The first time was to find out that the upgrade existed and get the instructions for faxing the information to them. Supposedly, my fax never arrived. Then, I had to talk to them about that and get a snail-mail address. Supposedly, THAT package never arrived. Then, with my next call, I managed to get an email address to send the documents to. Again, supposedly, that never arrived. Finally, I talked to a person who had me re-fax just the receipt and my Acrobat 3 serial number. She called me back within a half an hour and we completed the whole process (confirmed my shipping address and got a credit card number for the shipping fee). Besides the hassle I had to go through, this upgrade must have cost Adobe a bundle in phone and support personnel costs. The free upgrade period from Acrobat 5 to 6 is over now, but Adobe really needs to come up with a better way for their old Acrobat 3 customers to upgrade.

Newbie to Acrobat
Yes indeed Adobe Acrobat is too expensive, but, when considering the alternatives of buying other brands of PDF software that have less than pleasing quality, it all boils down to choosing the product that has the highest quality. To my knowledge, Acrobat is still the best PDF software available.

My personal needs are to create PDF files, encrypt them, require passwords to view, and restrict the user from printing and copying. After testing a couple other PDF products, I quickly discovered that their security was overly easy to bypass, no I take that back, they were *ridiculously* easy to bypass. Adobe's security has so far proven to be usefully solid.

Since Adobe provides limited public information about their products, I recommend that you first buy a book teaching how to use an Adobe package and read it through so that you will know what the software actually does and does not do. Yes, I agree, having to purchase a book and spend the time studying is not the prefered way to learn about any product, but the few dollars invested can easily pay for itself by your knowing which software to buy (or more specifically, what not to buy!).

What has amazed me the most with my Acrobat experience is when I had to call Adobe customer service to get a complex upgrade to version 6. Not only did the girl answering know what I was talking about, she also accomplished the entire order within that one phone call! WOW! Customer service like that is unheard of today. Apparently Adobe does care about its products enough to hire quality employees, and with that level of care, I feel more confident that I made the right decision choosing Adobe. Too, I purchased Acrobat from Amazon for the same reason of wanting quality service.

There are other PDF products available, some are even free, but for those of us who prefer quality and usefulness over initially lower costs, Acrobat is an intelligence choice. Choosing the right product today, the one that does not crash nor take time away from our work to fiddle with settings, gives us more time to whine about the costs later. If Acrobat were less expensive, I would give it five stars. ... Read more

Features

• Provides basic report design functionality off PC-based data sources
• Enhanced features for greater productivity and easier reporting
• Format painter for faster report formatting
• Enhanced Excel export for greater end-user flexibility
• 100-percent Java reporting component for J2EE applications

Features

• Capture and use notes on laptop or desktop computers or Tablet PCs
• Versatility of paper notes; efficiency of digital organizational tools
• Capture info in multiple ways; store in one place; easy to use
• Be more productive anywhere you work with notes
• Great for in meetings, classes, phone conferences, and more

Features

• Easily create Adobe PDF files—create PDF documents with one-button ease from Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Enjoy improved performance—with improved performance you can quickly convert, collect, and organize Adobe PDF documents.
• Assemble documents—create a single Adobe PDF file from multiple sources—including Web pages and e-mail—to deliver one professional document that anyone can open using free Adobe Reader 7.0 software.
• Protect sensitive and confidential documents—control documents inside and outside the firewall, online and offline.
• Enjoy improved attachment capabilities—easily attach source files such as spreadsheets and images to an Adobe PDF document.

Features

• Choose from 40,000 legal documents; protect family and assets
• Create a legal will, living trust, financial power of attorney, and more
• Comprehensive and easy to use with step-by-step interviews
• Automatically reflects specific state laws; cuts legal fees
• Comprehensive onscreen legal manual; expert tech support available

Features

• Precision OCR technology ensures over 99% accurate
• Advanced layout retention; edited text flows naturally
• Create PDF files from any application, simply print to PDF
• Use your voice to edit documents and activate workflows
• Digital signatures and encryption ensure file security and authenticity

Reviews (2)

OmniPage Pro 14 is amazing
I have been an OmniPage user for several years and find version 14 by far the easiest and most powerful version. Its ease of busting .pdf files is incredible. Although it took me a few hours of playing with the software to understand some of its nuances, I find that I can scan, edit, and transfer into Word with ease. If I'm scanning a clean copy of a document, with my adf on my scanner, I can very easily scan in a multipage document, OCR it, organize it, and save to Word. Once in Word it is easy to convert the .rtf to .doc, and wham! it is ready to go.

I have some difficulty in editing graphics linked to text in multiple columns once it is in Word, but it is becaue I don't understand the complexities of how Word does formatting, not because of any deficiencies in OmniPage 14.

Yes, there is a learning curve with the program, but that is to be expected when purchasing or upgrading any software, isn't it?

Significantly better than prior versions.
Over the years, Scansoft has developed an ugly reputation for shipping software before its prime (Omnipage Pro 12 locked up under Windows XP), but this version runs clean out of the box and the accuracy is excellent.

The interface is still not user-friendly, so you'll spend a lot of time trying to understand it. The translation from PDF into Word works sporadically. In some cases, I had to translate from PDF into TIFF and then back into Word using OCR.

All in all, a useful program, but could be better. ... Read more

Features

• Scanning and document management application for Microsoft Windows
• Quickly turn paper into digital content; save Web pages as PDF documents
• Create and annotate PDF files; convert static form into fillable electronic form
• Thumbnail management for Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files
• Download photos from digital camera; easily organize, edit, and find images

Amazon.com Product Description

Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Professional software allows business, creative, and engineering professionals who work with graphically complex documents to exchange business-critical documents accurately and efficiently. Convert any document to Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), and with one click from Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, and Microsoft Project, as well as from Microsoft Visio and AutoCAD, preserve document layers.

Combine multiple documents—including large-format technical drawings and page layouts—into one compact Adobe PDF file in a single step. Automatically initiate and manage document reviews using intuitive electronic tools. Create forms that can be exchanged with colleagues and customers, and archive your project files as searchable Adobe PDF files.

View, navigate, and comment on large-format documents with tools that eliminate the need for paper-based reviews, making it faster and easier to meet critical deadlines. Streamline proofing cycles with robust tools that let you automatically track, manage, and incorporate electronic feedback. View detailed artwork or large-format documents with intuitive navigation tools. Output PDF/X-compliant files, and help eliminate surprises at the printer by preflighting files and previewing and printing color separations. ... 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