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

[XJ-linux]

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]

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?

 

[XJ-linux]

Try this one... before I downloaded Adobe, it wasn't opening in Safari and prompting me to download. Now with Adobe, it opens in Safari as a PDF within it's own window. If you haven't installed Adobe, check and see if it opens in Safari. Thanks!

ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/common/ssi/pm/sp/n/pod03007usen/POD03007USEN.PDF

 

[cwa107]

Works like a champ with Firefox and Preview.

 

[XJ-linux]

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.

 

[technologist]

Safari can open PDFs by itself, and there's an add-on for Firefox to do the same thing
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/7518

 

[cwa107]

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 ).

 

[XJ-linux]

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.

 

[Kash]

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]

I second that. Even on Windows, I recommend (and use) FoxIt Reader. 1MB and it does the job just fine.

 

[Kash]

Yea, I installed Foxit and have never looked back since.

 

[vansmith]

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]

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.

 

[XJ-linux]

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]

Thanks Dave. I ended up using AppCleaner to kill off as many traces as I could find.