[GraemeJ]

A lot of MS users, like me, prefer to sort out their PDF's before importing into MS. There are several advantages to this, not the least being that you have a set of files that can be used in any other application, printed out, etc.

Although there are various softwares out there for dealing with PDF's, it has to be admitted that Adobe Acrobat is streets ahead of many of them (which is as it should be, it is Adobe's format). The downside is that Acrobat is not cheap, particularly now Adobe have moved to a subscription only service.

What is not generally known is that Adobe actually released Acrobat v8 as a freebie. They were rather forced into this when they had problems with their verification process for several of their programs. Musos might be interested to know they also released a freebie version of Audition 3 at the same time. These are not cut-down demos, they are the full Monty.

OK, this is not the current version, but it will do all (and more) of what is needed for MS users. There are some warnings about it not being perfect for a modern Windows OS -"Be aware, though, the program was originally written for use on Windows 2000 and XP, and trying to run it on a modern PC may result in all kinds of issues" - but I have it installed and running on a Windows 8.1 machine with no problems. I didn't even have to fiddle with the compatibility settings.

I was going to offer to place a copy somewhere, but I found that is already available here - http://downloads.pcauthority.com.au/arti...ofessional - so download and enjoy .

[popoff]

Hmmm, it seems that the version with disabled account check is acrobat 7, not 8 ....

Read before you download a CS2 product
Adobe has disabled the activation server for CS2 products, including Acrobat 7, because of a technical issue. These products were released more than seven years ago, do not run on many modern operating systems, and are no longer supported.

Adobe strongly advises against running unsupported and outdated software. The serial numbers provided as a part of the download may only be used by customers who legitimately purchased CS2 or Acrobat 7 and need to maintain their current use of these products.

Also it isn't a freeware product, as the last paragraph says. It's only an app without license check I think.

[GraemeJ]

No - the version I have is V8, as is the version in the link I gave.

I think it was originally intended (by Adobe) to provide these free versions for people who already owned the software, but were unable to authenticate it (they took the authentication server down for technical reasons) in the case of a re-install. However, it seems Adobe screwed up and, effectively, made this (plus four other market leading programs) a free release to all.

There was much discussion in the Audiomasters forum at the time and this quote, from an Adobe beta tester who is well-versed in the way the company works, pretty much sums it up;

"...... the whole thing is slightly surprising, and I must admit that I didn't think that this was how Adobe would handle this from the site, especially as they must have all the information available to do the job properly. For all we know, it could well be the ultimate Adobe cock-up ....."

Whatever the truth of the situation, it's a great and legitimate way to acquire some useful software.