Today I experienced what is one annoyance in a long line of frustrations with computer software companies thinking everyone is a freaking idiot who uses a computer and therefore the software companies need to hold the users hand to do every simple task. Microsoft has been doing this for years with Windows, making every new version more idiotic than the last by hiding advanced controls, but making lite (read useless) controls available for idiots. As in, “Yes I know how to share files on a network, I don’t need to be warned about dangers” a la Windows XP in workgroup mode.
Microsoft has also been on my list for making it difficult, but still doable, to download an entire service pack file. No I don’t want to just install it on one computer or go through Windows Update on every computer I service to download the stupid SP over a high speed (slow) Internet connection.
But today’s culprit is Adobe. They have been making it more and more difficult to just download the installer for Reader since about version 7 or 8. First the Adobe download manager was a suggestion, now it is mandatory. Good luck finding a place on their site to simply download the installer. “You want to install Reader without going to our awesome website. Well now you have to sign up for some ridiculous license agreement just to install Reader to your 100+ computers on your company LAN.” Total BS!! How about making a link to an IT support area of your website for people who work in IT and actually know how to fix computers? Hey Adobe, spend more time fixing your buggy, security-holed software and less time making it impossible for IT people to download an installer.
For anyone who knows how to do more than power on a computer and check their email, you can still get Reader from Adobe’s ftp site:
ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/reader/
choose the subfolder for your OS and the version of Reader you would like to download. Get it while you still can!