A fit of pique can be expensive. Like $200 expensive. But it can also be well worth it.
Ever since I began using a computer on the internet, I thought, like many others, that Adobe Acrobat was the only PDF program in town. I have been using it since version 4.0 was released in 1999, upgrading religiously to XI in 2012 when I hast got a new computer.
Even the regular version (not the Pro) got bigger and clunkier, with hundreds (thousands ??) of useless features and functions that are better performed on Office programs. Adobe also has the world's worst search feature. Looking to find how to do something? If you don't know the exact words to describe the function, you are screwed as it only highlights the words you search for. It is not intuitive like Google or Office. If I needed to know how to do something in Acrobat, Googling it was far likelier to bring up a useful answer.
Service is a huge problem. Sometimes regular updates would download and install and sometimes they wouldn't. Chief Dan George would understand. "Sometimes the magic works; sometimes it doesn't" (Little Big Man). Downloading a fully revised version was a total exercise in futility. The last straw was continual messages telling me to "uninstall and reinstall". I unistalled and it refused to reinstall, just kept up with the "uninstall and reinstall" message
Of course their website has "Support" and "Contact us" pages. Trying to reach a human directly is impossible. I found a phone number but was put on indefinite hold (This is the Incontinence Help Line. Can you hold, please?). There is as a last resort the "group discussion" pages. LOTS of people had the same problem, apparently. It was declared solved. Yeah, right. I went to the recommended page and tried to follow the extremely complex directions, though half the stuff I was supposed to do didn't show up on my computer screen.
Sent in a support request. Two days later a reply came. I was directed to another page which directed me to a Contact Support link. How stupid do they think I am? I have been trying to do that for days now.
The GOOD news is that there is an alternative. Nitro Pro 10 is the latest release of a PDF software package that is user friendly (Office style ribbon user interface), intuitive and does what I need it to do without a lot of useless extra garbage. You can try it free for two weeks, even. I loved it.
AND my PDF files have thumbnails again, not just Acrobat icons.
Furthermore, there is a direct link to real support right on the ribbon. When I first installed it, a minor error message would pop up on the introductory page when I opened the program. So I contacted support and within a few hours (time zones) got a reply that acknowledged the problem and told me what to do to stop the error message while the company worked on the solution. I was sold! Also they have since fixed the problem.
Adobe Acrobat Reader is still on my system but Acrobat XI is long gone. Now, to find a replacement for Photoshop Elements that is actually user friendly. Any suggestions?
Ever since I began using a computer on the internet, I thought, like many others, that Adobe Acrobat was the only PDF program in town. I have been using it since version 4.0 was released in 1999, upgrading religiously to XI in 2012 when I hast got a new computer.
Even the regular version (not the Pro) got bigger and clunkier, with hundreds (thousands ??) of useless features and functions that are better performed on Office programs. Adobe also has the world's worst search feature. Looking to find how to do something? If you don't know the exact words to describe the function, you are screwed as it only highlights the words you search for. It is not intuitive like Google or Office. If I needed to know how to do something in Acrobat, Googling it was far likelier to bring up a useful answer.
Service is a huge problem. Sometimes regular updates would download and install and sometimes they wouldn't. Chief Dan George would understand. "Sometimes the magic works; sometimes it doesn't" (Little Big Man). Downloading a fully revised version was a total exercise in futility. The last straw was continual messages telling me to "uninstall and reinstall". I unistalled and it refused to reinstall, just kept up with the "uninstall and reinstall" message
Of course their website has "Support" and "Contact us" pages. Trying to reach a human directly is impossible. I found a phone number but was put on indefinite hold (This is the Incontinence Help Line. Can you hold, please?). There is as a last resort the "group discussion" pages. LOTS of people had the same problem, apparently. It was declared solved. Yeah, right. I went to the recommended page and tried to follow the extremely complex directions, though half the stuff I was supposed to do didn't show up on my computer screen.
Sent in a support request. Two days later a reply came. I was directed to another page which directed me to a Contact Support link. How stupid do they think I am? I have been trying to do that for days now.
The GOOD news is that there is an alternative. Nitro Pro 10 is the latest release of a PDF software package that is user friendly (Office style ribbon user interface), intuitive and does what I need it to do without a lot of useless extra garbage. You can try it free for two weeks, even. I loved it.
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| Click to enlarge |
Furthermore, there is a direct link to real support right on the ribbon. When I first installed it, a minor error message would pop up on the introductory page when I opened the program. So I contacted support and within a few hours (time zones) got a reply that acknowledged the problem and told me what to do to stop the error message while the company worked on the solution. I was sold! Also they have since fixed the problem.
Adobe Acrobat Reader is still on my system but Acrobat XI is long gone. Now, to find a replacement for Photoshop Elements that is actually user friendly. Any suggestions?
If you say so.
ReplyDeletethe Ol'Buzzard