Adobe Acrobat

Hi there.

[/rant]
I just downloaded a PDF file, and Adobe told me there was an update.
Cool. So, i go ahead and start the update, then it hits me.

Theres "Install Yahoo Toolbar" in the "To Install" field, and the "remove" button is dimmed out so you cant NOT install it.

Whats this? I can't update Adobe without installing a(NOTHER) peice of crap on my computer with it??

Dear lord, Whats it coming to?

Those toolbars should be as illegal as spam should be.
[/end rant]

Things like that make me switch to alternative (and often much less bloated) viewers.
Have a look at Foxit PDF Viewer
It's only 1.15MB compared to 43MB for Adobe PDF Reader!

Don't know why Adobes reader needs to be that large in the first place.

Another thing to do if you are using the Adobe PDF reader is to rename the plug-ins folder (to xxxplug-ins for example). That'll speed up the apps loading time no end. It should bypass the update check too since the updater.api is in the plug-ins folder.

Also, check out:

Quicktime Alternative
Realplayer Alternaive

Yes, and I'll bet that 'update' was 20 megs worth of download too. Updates are a big CON. I still set my clock to 1998 when I want to open realmedia files with real player.

I suppose you'll just have too immediately uninstall all the other crap like everyone else does. Although here is a tip that usually works, hit cancel in the middle of the installations you don't want, then click exit. The installer will rarely check that the previous program has been installed correctly, and thus you'll be able to install what you really straight afterwards.

Hope this helps. :)

Foxit really is a big improvement. It wasn't until I started using OSX, with it's Preview app for viewing pdf files, that I noticed how annoying Acrobat is, and then I started looking for an alternative on Windows.

The really sad part is that Adobe's PDF reader hasn't appeared to have changed at all for years. They keep giving me big downloads and new version number, though!
What they should really be doing, instead of bloating it (something which is not meant to be done to any kind of VIEWER application), is porting it to as many different platforms as possible.

Actually... This reminds me of Quicktime. I haven't yet updated it because I haven't found a download that does not come with a pile of other useless [poop]. It won't run, though, because Apple is INTENT on me updating the stupid thing.

Thus, they can all go to a very warm and fiery place with their stupid viewer.

I'm getting visions of Peter Pan compared to the software industry all of a sudden. They've all grown up and they aren't coming back.

Don't hate me, but I found Adobe Reader 7 massively useful when I was revising for an exam. I had the course chapters on pdf and I could search them very quickly using the search facility. I don't like it trying to get on the internet though - so I don't let it (thats true of Realplayer and the rest of them).

Why do all things try and get net access? My mouse driver frequently tries, for god's sake. :/

what I want to know is why all the recent games try and access crl.microsoft.com?

They're reporting back to Big Brother. MUUuuuuhahahaha!

The latest Flash Player plug-in update also adds a Yahoo Toolbar automatically.

If I wanted a bloody Yahoo Toolbar, I'd visit Yahoo and get it!

Not on mine I've to say ... In Adobe there is a checkbox at the start, if you never installed any adobe reader just updated you might never have seen and unchecked it thought ...

Are there any disadvantages to the QuickTime alternative?
The latest version is really annoying me; It seems to believe that it is the most important program on my computer.

I'd imagine it doesn't support QT7's H264 or whatever codecs 100% yet.

I don't have any problems with QT or RealPlayer... I have them both installed, stripped out all their registry autorun entries and never open them once. I let Winamp plugins use their dlls and it's much safer ;]

EDIT:There are a few reasons why apps would visit here but the most common reason for games is because DirectX automatically looks for updated ... something. You can easily enough turn this off by booting up dxdiag and unchecking 'Check for WHQL digital signatures' on the start up page.

> Why do all things try and get net access?

To rape your harddrive with bloatware filth.

/me screams like a girl!