Tech Shout!

On Tuesday, Adobe released version 8 of its free Reader product for PDF files. The new Acrobat 8 provides business professionals with innovative tools for communicating and collaborating with confidence across the boundaries of operating systems, applications and firewalls.

The new version of the Acrobat 8 software significantly incorporates collaboration features through a new ‘Start Meeting’ button. In addition, Adobe has also redesigned Reader’s interface and added a loupe for zooming in on specific areas of a document.

“Design and construction processes are notorious for being inefficient and paper-intensive,” said John Moebes, director of Construction, Crate & Barrel. “With building costs growing at about 10 percent annually, we need tools like Acrobat 8 and PDF that act as force multipliers, enabling one person to do a job that previously might require several people. For instance, with advances in Acrobat 8, many design and construction documents can now be combined into a single, more secure PDF package and delivered in seconds nationwide to project teams that can review, comment on and digitally sign materials simply using Adobe Reader.”

Other features in Reader 8 software include integration with Adobe LiveCycle Policy Server and the new Adobe Online Services Document Center, which enables users to digitally sign PDF files. Adobe has even built in a basic RSS reader into version 8, along with new review and markup tools.

The Acrobat Connect hosted service is immediately available as a free trial through the end of the current calendar year. The trial can be accessed via the “Start Meeting” button in Acrobat 8 and Adobe Reader 8, and directly here. The commercial release of Acrobat Connect, initially in English, is expected to be available in January 2007 for a subscription price of $39 per month, or $395 per year per personal meeting room.

The full version of Adobe Acrobat 8 went on sale in November. The trial version of Adobe Reader 8 is now available for Windows XP and Vista, with a separate Acrobat 8 version for Windows 2000.