Adobe Reader 9.3.1 Out... "Huge-er" Than Ever!

Joined
Jul 2, 2007
Messages
3,494
Reaction score
204
Points
63
Location
Going Galt...
Your Mac's Specs
MacBookAir5,2:10.13.6-iMac18,3:10.13.6-iPhone9,3:11.4.1
I just installed the latest Adobe Reader update, taking my MacBook up to v9.3.1. With the language pack, it weighs in at 216.8MB. Is it just me, or does that seem like a large chunk of space for a PDF viewer? I'd ditch it completely, but I run into those websites quite often that demand that you use Adobe to read a PDF. Is there anyway around these web sites' demands of using Adobe, short of downloading every PDF file I wish to read and then opening in Preview? I prefer Preview, but would appreciate not having to download every IBM Redbook I need to scan for a few commands or code snippets.
 

vansmith

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2008
Messages
19,924
Reaction score
559
Points
113
Location
Queensland
Your Mac's Specs
Mini (2014, 2018, 2020), MBA (2020), iPad Pro (2018), iPhone 13 Pro Max, Watch (S6)
That's great news - I just got a PDF that requires me to use Reader. It's not that 216MB is going to consume a majority of my free space (140+ GB free) but I agree especially when you note that Preview is ~ 35MB.

What exactly is the message you're getting? Do you have an example URL I can try working with?
 
OP
XJ-linux
Joined
Jul 2, 2007
Messages
3,494
Reaction score
204
Points
63
Location
Going Galt...
Your Mac's Specs
MacBookAir5,2:10.13.6-iMac18,3:10.13.6-iPhone9,3:11.4.1

cwa107


Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 20, 2006
Messages
27,042
Reaction score
812
Points
113
Location
Lake Mary, Florida
Your Mac's Specs
14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD
Works like a champ with Firefox and Preview.
 
OP
XJ-linux
Joined
Jul 2, 2007
Messages
3,494
Reaction score
204
Points
63
Location
Going Galt...
Your Mac's Specs
MacBookAir5,2:10.13.6-iMac18,3:10.13.6-iPhone9,3:11.4.1
Oddly, I just deleted Adobe (everything except for the Flash plugin). Safari seems to open PDF's fine. Either my system was wonked, or there is some remnant of Adobe Reader left. Weird.
 

cwa107


Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 20, 2006
Messages
27,042
Reaction score
812
Points
113
Location
Lake Mary, Florida
Your Mac's Specs
14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD
Wow, that Firefox plug-in is awesome. No need for Adobe's bloatware anymore here. (Now if only Apple would create its own version of Flash, but I won't hold my breath for that one :) ).
 
OP
XJ-linux
Joined
Jul 2, 2007
Messages
3,494
Reaction score
204
Points
63
Location
Going Galt...
Your Mac's Specs
MacBookAir5,2:10.13.6-iMac18,3:10.13.6-iPhone9,3:11.4.1
Well, my Safari is working without Adobe now. I'm not asking any questions as long as it works. Thanks for the plug-in technologist - Firefox works well with it thus far. Nice and stable.
 
Joined
Dec 3, 2006
Messages
9,383
Reaction score
417
Points
83
Location
Irvine, CA
Your Mac's Specs
Black Macbook C2D 2GHz 3GB RAM 250GB HD iPhone 4 iPad 3G
There are just so many better alternatives available that there's really no need for us to waste our time with the bloated Adobe Reader anymore.
 

cwa107


Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 20, 2006
Messages
27,042
Reaction score
812
Points
113
Location
Lake Mary, Florida
Your Mac's Specs
14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD
I second that. Even on Windows, I recommend (and use) FoxIt Reader. 1MB and it does the job just fine.
 
Joined
Dec 3, 2006
Messages
9,383
Reaction score
417
Points
83
Location
Irvine, CA
Your Mac's Specs
Black Macbook C2D 2GHz 3GB RAM 250GB HD iPhone 4 iPad 3G
Yea, I installed Foxit and have never looked back since.
 

vansmith

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2008
Messages
19,924
Reaction score
559
Points
113
Location
Queensland
Your Mac's Specs
Mini (2014, 2018, 2020), MBA (2020), iPad Pro (2018), iPhone 13 Pro Max, Watch (S6)
There are just so many better alternatives available that there's really no need for us to waste our time with the bloated Adobe Reader anymore.
Unfortunately, you get the odd PDF that requires Adobe Reader. I have one that does and I hate that I have to install such a large program for one PDF. I'll end up uninstalling it but needless to say, I'm a little peeved.

I've been running that plug-in for a while now and anytime I switch browsers, it's the first sort of plugin I look for (and a FlashBlock/ClickToFlash equivalent).
 

cwa107


Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 20, 2006
Messages
27,042
Reaction score
812
Points
113
Location
Lake Mary, Florida
Your Mac's Specs
14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD
As it happens, I just had to install Adobe Reader today to print a shipping label. Now, I want to uninstall it.

Can anyone tell me how to go about doing this? Adobe's support document says to just double-click the uninstaller in the Adobe Reader folder, but it doesn't exist.
 
OP
XJ-linux
Joined
Jul 2, 2007
Messages
3,494
Reaction score
204
Points
63
Location
Going Galt...
Your Mac's Specs
MacBookAir5,2:10.13.6-iMac18,3:10.13.6-iPhone9,3:11.4.1
Yep, I had the same issue with needing it for some of the older IBM Redbooks. The quickest way I found was to use AppCleaner: AppCleaner

It worked well in getting rid of 99% of Adobe's footprint. After that I just used Spotlight to find all the dormant/empty folders and language packs.
 

cwa107


Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 20, 2006
Messages
27,042
Reaction score
812
Points
113
Location
Lake Mary, Florida
Your Mac's Specs
14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD
Thanks Dave. I ended up using AppCleaner to kill off as many traces as I could find.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top