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Is Acrobat Pro for Mac as heavy as on PC?

post #1 of 9
4/5/11 at 4:23am
Thread Starter 
I've been using Adobe Acrobat on PC, and it looks like a heavy beast, using a lot of system resources (it even initializes a server and related stuff at system start up, so booting is slower when Acrobat is installed).

I'll be getting a new Mac, and I've the option of installing Acrobat Pro on it. I'm wondering if it will affect the OS performance as the PC version does, or if it's a well-designed isolated application on the Mac.

If it modifies the booting procedure of OSX, I'd rather prefer not installing it.

TIA
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post #2 of 9
4/5/11 at 6:24am
I don't quite know what you mean by some of your comments. The Mac version of Adobe Acrobat X Pro is not exactly Preview, but it is not the load that you describe of the Windows version. Compared to other big applications, it is no more onerous.
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post #3 of 9
4/5/11 at 10:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Me View Post

I don't quite know what you mean by some of your comments. The Mac version of Adobe Acrobat X Pro is not exactly Preview, but it is not the load that you describe of the Windows version. Compared to other big applications, it is no more onerous.

But it IS relatively slow to start up/open.

@ecs: Acrobat Pro is an even 'heavier', more complex application than Acrobat Reader. So it will be even slower.
Is there a special reason why you would need Pro?
The fact that you can install it doesn't automatically mean that it is the wise thing to do!
Like e.g. you can install a big-block V8 in a Fiat 500 or a BMW Mini, but you'll have to leave the kids at home because there won't be enough room left for them! Which defeats the purpose of your convenient around-town-car.
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post #4 of 9
4/5/11 at 1:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rokcet Scientist View Post

But it IS relatively slow to start up/open.

@ecs: Acrobat Pro is an even 'heavier', more complex application than Acrobat Reader. So it will be even slower.
Is there a special reason why you would need Pro?
The fact that you can install it doesn't automatically mean that it is the wise thing to do!
Like e.g. you can install a big-block V8 in a Fiat 500 or a BMW Mini, but you'll have to leave the kids at home because there won't be enough room left for them! Which defeats the purpose of your convenient around-town-car.

I have used Acrobat Pro for going on two decades. Except for the embedded JavaScript scripts, I have never found it to be terribly slow on any hardware that I have used it on. It certainly does not merit the FUD posted here.
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post #5 of 9
4/5/11 at 2:27pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Me View Post

[...] It certainly does not merit the FUD posted here.

I don't know how Acrobat Pro works on Mac, that's why I asked. But I can talk you about the PC. On the PC, it registers as software to be initialized at boot time. Even if you never open a PDF document on your machine, an acrobat server or service is sleeping there. And it also happens with Reader: whenever I update the Reader version, the first thing I do is to disable it from initializing at boot time.

Regarding Acrobat Pro on the PC, my experience is that it usually took about the same time as AutoCAD to start, and IMHO Acrobat complexity shouldn't compare to AutoCAD unless they implement a whole professional 3D CAD system inside Acrobat.

If it's better on the Mac, I'm glad to know. But on the PC is like I said, at least on my experience, so I wouldn't say it's FUD.

Anyway, I think I won't need it. I need to merge/split/edit PDFs, but I believe I can do it with Preview and other lightweight tools. My employer has a Acrobat Pro license, but I don't want to install it if it modifies the behaviour of OSX by starting servers/services/whatever at boot time like it does on the PC.
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post #6 of 9
4/5/11 at 10:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ecs View Post

...

Anyway, I think I won't need it. I need to merge/split/edit PDFs, but I believe I can do it with Preview and other lightweight tools. My employer has a Acrobat Pro license, but I don't want to install it if it modifies the behaviour of OSX by starting servers/services/whatever at boot time like it does on the PC.

Oh, for Pete's sakes. MacOS X is not Windows. As a rule of thumb, developers don't foist the kinds of crap that you describe on Mac users. For my part, I rarely use anytbing other than Acrobat Pro to read or edit PDF files. Your fears that MacOS X is Windows under the skin are completely and totally unfounded.
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post #7 of 9
4/7/11 at 6:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Me View Post

Oh, for Pete's sakes. MacOS X is not Windows. As a rule of thumb, developers don't foist the kinds of crap that you describe on Mac users. For my part, I rarely use anytbing other than Acrobat Pro to read or edit PDF files. Your fears that MacOS X is Windows under the skin are completely and totally unfounded.

Keep your shirt on, Mr.! Nobody said Acrobat doesn't run on OSX, only that it needs, and takes, considerable system resources to do so. That fact reflects first and foremost on the application's, that's Acrobat's, degree of leanness and sophistication – in this case the lack of such – instead of on OSX, but it is a fact of life nevertheless.
Acrobat simply is a very mediocre and bloated piece of software.
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post #8 of 9
4/7/11 at 4:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rokcet Scientist View Post

Keep your shirt on, Mr.! Nobody said Acrobat doesn't run on OSX, only that it needs, and takes, considerable system resources to do so. That fact reflects first and foremost on the application's, that's Acrobat's, degree of leanness and sophistication in this case the lack of such instead of on OSX, but it is a fact of life nevertheless.
Acrobat simply is a very mediocre and bloated piece of software.

I have no idea where you got the notion that I or anyone else think that others believe that Acrobat doesn't run on MacOS X. Adobe Acrobat Pro obviously runs on MacOS X. I am not aware of anyone who believes otherwise. The point that I was making is based on my assessment of a certain group of Windows users. This group assumes that Windows problems are necessarily transferred to the Mac without mitigation.

Your assertion that Acrobat is mediocre and bloated is an opinion based on unstated criteria. It is besides the point. If bloat were a dealbreaker, then a lot of mission-critical software would be disqualified. I also have an opinion: Adobe Acrobat Pro is the best application suite for creating and editing PDF files.
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post #9 of 9
4/10/11 at 2:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Me View Post

Adobe Acrobat Pro is the best application suite for creating and editing PDF files.

If that's the best Adobe can do it's a sad state of affairs.
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