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Security => Security Alerts & Briefings => Topic started by: Corrine on October 21, 2017, 11:37:32 PM

Title: Adobe Reader XI and Acrobat XI -- End-of-Life
Post by: Corrine on October 21, 2017, 11:37:32 PM
Adobe provides product support from the general availability date of  Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader for five years.  The five-year date was  October 15, 2017, meaning Adobe Reader XI and Acrobat XI have reached  end-of-life.  As a result, Adobe will no longer be providing technical  support for those products.  This also includes both product and, more  importantly, security updates.

If either or both of these programs are installed on your computer it is  strongly advised that you uninstall them as soon as possible.  If you  wish to stay with Adobe products, the Adobe Acrobat Reader DC can be  downloaded from here (https://get.adobe.com/reader/).

Note:  UNcheck any  pre-checked additional  options presented with  the download. They are not  part of the software and are completely  optional.

If you use Windows 10, Microsoft Edge works great to read PDF  documents.  In addition, new features are included in the Windows 10  Fall Creators Update.   See How Microsoft Edge will beat Chrome as the best PDF reader with the Fall Creators Update (https://www.pcworld.com/article/3219693/windows/how-microsoft-edge-will-beat-chrome-as-the-best-pdf-reader-with-the-fall-creators-update.html) for additional information.

Another alternative is Free PDF Reader - Sumatra PDF (https://www.sumatrapdfreader.org/free-pdf-reader.html).

h/t ky331

References
Adobe Acrobat XI and Adobe Reader XI End of Support (https://blogs.adobe.com/documentcloud/adobe-acrobat-xi-and-adobe-reader-xi-end-of-support/)
Adobe Support Lifecycle Policy (https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-pricing/policy_enterprise_lifecycle.html)
Title: Re: Adobe Reader XI and Acrobat XI -- End-of-Life
Post by: JDBush61 on October 22, 2017, 03:00:48 PM
Grrrrrrrrr!!! What's up with Adobe?  >:(

Actually, I need Acrobat. In fact, I just used it 10 minutes ago. I run Acrobat XI Pro. I just checked for updates, and "nada"! (snipped image attached). Then, I followed the link you posted, and now I'm confused. I purchased Acrobat XI Pro a few years back, and installed it. Now Adobe wants me to "Sign Up" (i.e., pay a monthly fee) for DC Pro? Am I missing something? I'm confused, and I hate security risks. (snipped photo attached)
Title: Re: Adobe Reader XI and Acrobat XI -- End-of-Life
Post by: plodr on October 22, 2017, 06:55:58 PM
According to this review
http://www.techadvisor.co.uk/review/publishing-software/adobe-acrobat-xi-pro-review-3405787/

Adobe Acrobat XI Pro came out in 2012. So it appears that it was supported for 5 years.

Perhaps you can find a cheaper or free alternative.
https://alternativeto.net/software/adobe-acrobat/

I've heard people mention PDF-XChange.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/pdf_xchange_editor.html
it might be worth a try. I note it says Fremium which means some parts are free but if you need other things, you pay.

Here's all the pdf editor programs they offer
https://www.tracker-software.com/products
Title: Re: Adobe Reader XI and Acrobat XI -- End-of-Life
Post by: plodr on October 22, 2017, 07:07:46 PM
Looking over the Tracker site, it was PDF-XChange Viewer not the Editor which people mentioned. Sorry for the confusion.

I think I have a portable version of the viewer on one of my USB sticks.
Title: Re: Adobe Reader XI and Acrobat XI -- End-of-Life
Post by: JDBush61 on October 22, 2017, 08:05:53 PM
Thanks, plodr.

However, I'm still confused. Soooooo, I now have to "dump" my Acrobat XI Pro due to security risks? I work with PDF files every week. They are very common in my field of business. Money talks, but I don't need security risks. Is this simply Adobe, like MS Office, trying to become a "monthly fee" program? If it is, I'm not happy!

Thanks again.
Title: Re: Adobe Reader XI and Acrobat XI -- End-of-Life
Post by: Pete! on October 22, 2017, 10:24:26 PM
Quote from: plodr on October 22, 2017, 07:07:46 PM
Looking over the Tracker site, it was PDF-XChange Viewer not the Editor which people mentioned. Sorry for the confusion.

I think I have a portable version of the viewer on one of my USB sticks.
I like PDF XChange Viewer, but I just found out it's no longer being updated. It's replacement PDF XChange Editor is NOT free.

I'll probably continue to use it for now, but when my wife's computer had a problem opening a PDF with "Edge", I got SumatraPDF for her.
Title: Re: Adobe Reader XI and Acrobat XI -- End-of-Life
Post by: Aaron Hulett on October 23, 2017, 05:12:36 PM
Quote from: JDBush61 on October 22, 2017, 08:05:53 PM
Thanks, plodr.

However, I'm still confused. Soooooo, I now have to "dump" my Acrobat XI Pro due to security risks? I work with PDF files every week. They are very common in my field of business. Money talks, but I don't need security risks. Is this simply Adobe, like MS Office, trying to become a "monthly fee" program? If it is, I'm not happy!

Thanks again.

It's not well advertised, as I would imagine the cloud offering provides continual revenue which is great business-wise, but there is a boxed version of Adobe Acrobat 2017 around. https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/whats-new-acrobat-2017.html
Title: Re: Adobe Reader XI and Acrobat XI -- End-of-Life
Post by: JDBush61 on October 23, 2017, 05:51:37 PM
Thanks, Aaron. It does seem that everyone is veering towards subscription services. It is a better business model, but not for me. I prefer "the box". ;) For the time being, I'll stick with the Acrobat XI Pro that I currently have installed.

Thanks again!
Title: Re: Adobe Reader XI and Acrobat XI -- End-of-Life
Post by: JDBush61 on October 23, 2017, 06:03:12 PM
EDIT: I'll take that back. I suppose that I'll now upgrade to Acrobat Pro 2017 (box). Better safe than sorry. The sad point is that I need two - Windows & Mac. Crunch! $$$

https://commerce.adobe.com/anyware/checkout/?clientId=adobe_com&countryCode=US&languageCode=en&marketSegment=COM&items%5B0%5D%5BofferId%5D=5FE3ED67620407B125ABAB7E427BE8B7&items%5B0%5D%5Bquantity%5D=1&returnUrl=undefined&landscape=prod