Yes, but the point is that those files are not going to be infected. The only way you’re going to be infected by a pdf file is if you are tricked into opening a “specially crafted” one. the odds of that happening are slim and I’m confident Adobe will have a patch in place before there are any major or even minor problems.
If Adobe Reader isn’t safe what about Adobe Flash player ???
Well Adobe says:
"A critical vulnerability exists in Adobe Reader 9.3.4 and earlier versions for Windows, Macintosh and UNIX, and Adobe Acrobat 9.3.4 and earlier versions for Windows and Macintosh. This vulnerability (CVE-2010-2883) could cause a crash and potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system. There are reports that this vulnerability is being actively exploited in the wild. "
So I believe there is enough reason to worry. maybe not you Dch48 but for people in general…
So thanks YoKenny for bringing this up!
Of course it should be brought up, but not in a “the sky is falling” and “OMG, nobody should use Adobe” type of scenario. Yes the pond scum can create a malicious pdf, but a user has to be convinced or tricked into opening it. Not many people these days fall for that kind of stuff. Can someone potentially be infected? Of course, but the odds of that happening before a combination of updated AV definitions and patches from Adobe comes into play are slim to none.
I’m trying Cool PDF and it’s terrible. It won’t open the manual for my digital camera properly. Most of the pages show blank and others only Show the edges with the entire center section blank. The manual for Freepops can only be viewed in the slide show mode. My mouse wheel does not work at all. Images below, first with Cool PDF, then with Adobe.
I see no reason to use anything but Adobe— it works.
While I agree that people should ditch Adobe Reader from their computers, it would be a shame to send them over to Cool PDF Reader.
I just installed it and was amazed how downright lousy it was. The interface, the shortcuts, the lack of functionality – they get almost nothing right. Their web page is also sparse on information, and if not mentioned by the forum members here I would not have found the program trustworthy enough to download. The interface doesn’t take up much screen space, and it is a small, quick program. That’s about the only good things I can say about it. And more secure than Adobe Reader of course, but that applies to all the alternatives really.
I haven’t tried Nitro PDF Reader, but from the screenshots it looks like it tries to be a big office suite or something (big fat toolbar, Office 2007 style). Definitely not a “reader” if you ask me, more like a “worker” type of program. Might try it in the future though.
So Cool PDF Reader is not really a good option for someone used to Adobe Reader (or anyone else for that matter) I think. Instead I’d like to recommend two free of cost programs I feel is better suited:
– If you want a small and quick program that does the things Cool PDF does wrong in the right way, try SumatraPDF (mentioned earlier in this thread). Simple program that doesn’t get in your way, and shows you the occasional PDF-file you need to read. It doesn’t integrate into browsers – but that can be considered a security feature really. The printing support has not been top notch, but has been improving and they’re working further on it. SumatraPDF is open source software.
http://blog.kowalczyk.info/software/sumatrapdf/free-pdf-reader.html
– If what you need is more of a drop-in replacement for Adobe Reader consider PDF-XChange Viewer. It has quite a few features not found in the simple ones, although some are reserved for the Pro version. It will also integrate (at your option) into the browser, and you can decide if you want javascript in PDFs to be enabled or not in the settings. PDF-Xchange Viewer is actively developed and new versions are released quite regularly. The interface is filled up with too many tools by default. But don’t worry, just right-click on the toolbars that you don’t need and disable those. A few things to be aware of: During install you probably want to opt not to install the Ask Toolbar, but your choice is respected and it doesn’t install if you don’t want it, unlike the reports about Fox-it Reader. Also, the program (as far as I know) doesn’t auto-update itself. But there is a built in updater that can be launched on demand from the help menu.
http://www.tracker-software.com/product/pdf-xchange-viewer
Whatever you prefer, Cool PDF, SumatraPDF, PDF-XChange, or something else – the important thing is to use a PDF reader other than Adobe Reader!
A point of consideration is that Adobe Reader is likely (haven’t had it installed in ages) by default opening PDFs linked to on a web page inside the browser, using the browser plugin system. So users will then have to watch their status bar very carefully to make sure it doesn’t contain a “.pdf” ending. And sometimes the link destination is hidden or doesn’t show the proper file type in the status bar. You see what I’m getting at here, I’m sure.
It is of course possible to not use a pdf browser plugin, probably also with Adobe Reader. But unless that is the default behaviour there will be major issues every time there is a zero-day exploit in this software.
Iv tried all these readers and none come close to pdf xchange, its speed and clarity of it’s pages is second to none and the free version will give you a few extra things that you have to pay for with adobe and if you want all the goodies plus auto updates its like $30, compare this to adobe with acrobat pro which is $1000.00, you would have to be plain stupid to be using such a bloated piece of crapware. Adobe has always been a security issue and im just waiting for someone to bring out a decent flash player so i can get rid of all adobe products. 
I agree with this. I downloaded and installed pdf xchange and it’s very nice. It’s also very easy to use since it’s options are laid out very similarly to Adobe’s reader. It has a myriad of configuration options, is about the same speed as Adobe (with Adobe’s speedlaunch enabled), opens and displays all my pdf files correctly so far, and what I like the best, does not load anything at startup. It very well may become my pdf reader of choice. It does have way too many toolbars and options enabled by default but they’re easy enough to trim down to what you want to keep. It’s an excellent alternative to the Adobe Reader.
Yes agree with this. I am a Foxit user but do have pdf xchange on one computer. Very nice, even tho much more there than I need to use.
hello i removed Adobe Reader from my other computer that has windows xp now it is running a little faster but i also removed Acrobat.com program from the computer also. Btw what is Acrobat.com program used for any ways?
Acrobat is a part of the Adobe PDF program. You’ll need an alternative (many listed in the thread) to view PDF files.