A basic unit of information stored on a computer is the “file.” A file has a name. Sometimes you give the file that name and sometimes the operating system (eg, Windows 7) gives the file the name.
On Windows systems, a file name has the format xxxxxxx.yyy. It is the “yyy” that is the topic of this blog entry. You’ve seen files where yyy is pdf; eg, “lessonplan.pdf.” The yyy tells the Windows system what program can read the file. “pdf” tells Windows that it needs to use the program registered to read .pdf files to open the program. Almost always either the web page or your computer will say that Adobe Reader is required to read .pdf files.
Well, Adobe was the company that first embraced the .pdf file standard and so, historically Adobe Reader has been used to read these files.
If you download a .pdf file, the web page, even a government web page, will stipulate that the file has to be read by Adobe Reader. The page may even contain a link to download Adobe Reader.
I have a complaint about this practice. Almost always, Adobe Reader is NOT the only program that can read .pdf files. In fact, it is one of the bulkiest, least functional of the group of programs that read .pdf files. Furthermore, hackers have exploited weaknesses in the design of Adobe Reader to place malware on your computer. Somewhere I read that, in 2011, some 40% of all malware attacks were using Adobe Reader weaknesses. That is one reason you have been getting almost weekly updates to Adobe Reader, as the developers try to fix the bugs in that program. And in fact, in some cases the fixes introduce new bugs that then have to be fixed.
Adobe Reader introduces a number of inefficiencies; eg, it takes up a lot of space on your hard drive AND it takes up a lot of memory when it is being used.
In my opinion, there are better free .pdf file readers that include more free functionality than Adobe Reader plus being more secure "out of the box." A couple of nice features:
- Annotate (write on) a PDF document and save the annotations.
- Fill PDF forms by editing the form- you type in the fields. You don't have to print the file and hand fill-in the fields
- Provide electronic signature to a form
I recommend either one of two Adobe PDF Reader substitutes:
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