Reprinted from Bay Bytes, the newsletter of the Greater Tampa Bay PC User Group
http://www.cftnet.com/members/gtbpcug/
Adobe File Utilities 1.0
reviewed by Dennis Carney
The Adobe File Utilities described as "the complete file access solution"
on their package is a collection of applications to view, print, compare and convert
files from one proprietary format to another. The applications to perform these functions
in Windows 95 are: Viewer95, Word for Word, DocuComp, and Adobe Acrobat Reader. My
review of this package was made using Windows 95, but the Adobe File Utilities (Some
or all of the four applications) will install and run on various operating systems
including DOS, Macintosh System 6.0 (or higher), UNIX (including SunOS, AIX, HP-UX
9.05, etc.), Windows 3.1, and of course Windows 95. Viewer applications are only
available for Windows 3.1 and 95 - too bad because I would love to see an easy to
use text and graphic viewer for the UNIX systems.
The applications for all of these systems are installed from a single CD included
in the package. A brief installation manual completes the package with on-line documentation
providing primary instructions for use of the utilities. Shortly after installation,
I discovered that Adobe had also provided PDF files in the install directory that
detail the use of the utilities. The PDF files are large and not well suited for
"on line" viewing - the text is not clear even when viewed at "fit
to page width" because the font size was selected for printout on a laser printer.
These PDF files total around 300 pages and I did not attempt to print them all out.
I believe that Adobe should furnish more printed documentation for a product meant
to sell for around $100. Installation under Windows 95 requires 33 megabytes of hard
disk space for all applications and filters. During install you are given the option
of installing any or all of the applications. You are also prompted to enter your
name and the serial number from the inside cover of the printed installation instructions.
(I wish the vendors would print or tape the serial number directly on the CD for
these types of applications to aid in reinstalls.)
During the install you are given the option of linking the utilities to other applications
installed on your system. Adobe has also thoughtfully provided an uninstall facility
that allows you to properly remove any one or all of the utilities from your system.
The uninstall removes registry entries and links as well as the added files.
Viewer95 can be accessed via a right mouse click from the Windows Explorer or run
from it's icon in the AdobeFU group. The right mouse click access will probably be
used most often by users. The Viewer95 function replaces the very limited Viewer
function supplied with Windows 95. This function worked great - I was unable to fool
it even when I had a bitmap (BMP) file with a strange (.TST) extension. The Viewer
even lets you UUEncode and UUDecode graphics files for transmission with Internet
text readers. One feature I wished for that did not exist in Viewer95 was the ability
to convert graphic file formats via the "save as" function. This feature
only works with text files and has a limited number of "save to" formats
including HTML, Microsoft Word for Windows, RTF and ASCII. The Viewer95 is a worthwhile
addition to your system if you're presently still stuck with the very basic viewer
included with Windows 95.
The next application I tried was the Word for Word document conversion utility. I
used it with a few pure text and mixed text and graphic files that I had on hand.
The files I tried to "convert from" were a text file in Professional Write
2.21 for DOS, a text file with graphics and tables in WordPerfect 6.1 for Windows,
and a copy of mixed text and graphics in PDF format (A copy of the GTBPCUG newsletter!).
My target conversion format was Microsoft Word version 7 for Windows 95. The results
of conversion were mixed. The Professional Write document all converted but came
through with some tabs messed up and was changed from a 12 font to a size 5 font.
The text and formatting in the WordPerfect document converted OK, but a table was
not correct and the graphic (drawn with WordPerfect Draw) was unrecognizable. A direct
import of the WordPerfect file into Microsoft Word was not perfect either, but produced
better results than the Word for Word conversion. The newsletter in PDF format reported
an error - "not a supported conversion". I also discovered that the Viewer95
would only view a PDF document as hex code and did not recognize Adobe's proprietary
document format. (I know - PDF is supposed to stand for "Portable Document Format"!)
I was disappointed that Adobe has not yet integrated some support for PDF in either
Viewer95 or Word for Word.
I didn't spend a lot of time with the third utility DocuComp, but it appeared to
serve it's intended purpose (Bring two different copies of a document up on a split
screen with differences highlighted by color) just fine.
If you have a current need for most of the features and the broad platform support
provided by the Adobe File Utilities, then this package has limited competition.
If your need is not so immediate, then you might like to wait on Adobe's first revision
to this package when I expect they will better integrate the utilities and enhance
support for PDF format.
Adobe File Utilities1.0
Suggest Retail Price $149
Adobe Systems Incorporated 345 Park Avenue San Jose, CA 95110-2704
http://www.adobe.com on the World Wide Web
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