Periodically, Adobe will do user studies so we can understand how customers are using Adobe and non-Adobe software at work or at home. As part of user research, we're always looking for good candidates with whom to speak. For information about general Adobe research, you can check out our Adobe User Research page. You can also follow Adobe User Research on Twitter at @adobe_research.
For Acrobat, we are currently recruiting for two user research sessions, in the areas of Forms and PDF Portfolios.
- Forms - If you need to create and distribute forms or surveys as part of your job (whether you use Acrobat and PDF or whether you use another method), you can apply to participate in our Forms user research by filling in this questionnaire.
- PDF Portfolios - If you've used Acrobat 9's PDF Portfolio feature, you can apply to participate in our PDF Portfolio user research by filling in this questionnaire.
If you're accepted to participate in either study, you will receive $150 in American Express gift checks.
We really hope you'll consider sharing your experiences with the Acrobat team so we can continue to make our software as useful as possible.
Thanks!
Dave Stromfeld, Product Manager
when are you going to address the MDI issue for acrobat 9? You closed the comments to the issue article, i've sent in feature requests, and I've joined the forums where people are still upset about it, but there hasnt been any more from adobe about it since october/november of 2008.
Is this being addressed and when can I expect a solution to this very fundamental user interface issue?
Thank you.
Same question as Wesley. You closed the comments saying you "heard [us] loud and clear" 7-8 months ago. Any movement on this front?
My company recently "upgraded" us all to v9 and it's a nightmare. Baaaad decision; this needs to be remedied. You know what happens to companies when they don't heed their customers' basic needs.
And although this is banging a drum well banged, I wanted to comment on it simply so you can realise the level of frustration a non MDI interface brings.
It seems strange to complain about a free product, and expect a right to use it, but if we don't give feedback like this the more technically inclined will go looking for alternatives to Reader.
There's an easy way to gauge how popular it would be if you think of doing this again - ask your devs if they'd be happy for Visual Studio to go the same way, and watch them MDI support it in no matter what the spec says!
Old style MDI or document tabs; whichever you like. I'd prefer MDI, but tabs may be more useful for some.
R
Just upgraded to 9 Pro, what a mistake, had no idea that MDI was removed, I have dual screens, what a mess. Apparently no one listens, as I google and find this has been an issue for months. Going back to 7.
[All - As I mentioned back in the March 13 blog post, this is an issue that we're aware of and that we're looking into. But to be clear, this isn't a bug - this is the way Acrobat 9 was designed. Regardless, we're investigating how we may want to change this going forward. I'll post an update to this blog when I have an update. Thanks - Dave]
We have stuck with Acrobat 6 for many many years now due to several issues and now, through a CS4 upgrade we're not happy with Acrobat 9.
Seems that many of the features we NEED have not only been changed, but they have disappeared... not a hint of why....
Paste in Place is CRITICAL to our business
MDI is VERY important - and SDI makes Cross Pasting a PAIN!
The ARROW STYLE in Acrobat 6 is our standard. Versions 7,8&9 are AWFUL - they don't come to a point? some kind of FLAT badly designed Triangle line thingie....
Change maybe INEVITABLE, but feature LOSS is not.
I can say that we are evaluating every product to replace Quickbooks because they don't listen. We don't want to add Adobe to the list of companies that makes changes without evaluating the COST of those changes to their users. We can always spend our money elsewhere, though we'd rather not....
We just upgrade our office to version 9 from 6 and people are complaining like crazy about the removal of MDI. We do a lot of document review. They are also complaining because Acrobat crashes when you have too many SDI versions open. Looks like we will need to downgrade the office.
[HW - As you've seen on this blog, we've talked about the MDI issues. Open a bug for the SDI crashing issue. Thanks. - Dave]
I would also like to voice my frustration on MDI removal. It would seem that with such a big public outcry, steps would be taken to address the problem. Call it what you may, but all of these adobe users, myself including, do consider this to be a "bug", it's changed the way I work with and print files, and not for the better. As a commercial printer, it has caused us so many problems. I wanted desperately to revert back to Acrobat 8, but when we tried that route, it ended up screwing our system up even more due to installation problems. It is such a basic feature, I don't understand why it can't be easily addressed in a patch. I've been a loyal adobe customer for years and years, and for the most part have always been please and impressed with the innovation that has been put forward. This is the first instance where I've felt that not only have you taken a step backwards, but you're saying - Screw you customer, take it or leave it, thats how we "Designed" the product. Just a terrible idea.
My employer mandated an upgrade to Reader 9 to resolve security issues with 8. (I can't go back to version 8.) I just found there is no option for MDI in version 9, and I cannot begin to express my frustration and disappointment. As I open additional documents, every subsequent window must be repositioned on my monitors. They always open in undesired locations and cover other applications. I use Reader, Excel, and other applications concurrently. With MDI I could position the Reader window where desired and be assured the window position was fixed. I could easily view all my open applications as positioned on the monitors. Now, I am continually moving Reader windows. Alt-Tab switching is inconvenient now and my taskbar is overflowing. This change to SDI-only interface is very disruptive to my work flow. Please reinstate it at the earliest opportunity.
Two items of severe frustration with Acrobat Pro 9 when it comes to serious document review. The lack of MDI the most significant, but the 'floating search window' is similarly an obstacle to smooth working. I find it amazing that Pro is worse than Reader (used inside a browser) in the latter respect. The temporary fix is to use Reader in Firefox tabs, but it seems inevitable that I will downgrade back to Acrobat 8 as the Reader browser tabs approach doesn't provide note taking support (naturally). I was hoping that we would get a date for MDI functionality return and also hope that some improvement would be made to search for those of us who are cross-checking against multiple documents. There is no real point in paying for Acrobat unless the heavy duty features work well in serious use.
I recently was updated to Adobe 9 Pro and agree that the lack of the MDI interface is a detrement to the program. I work with some very large PDF files simultaneously. Having them all managed under a single taskbar was convenient.
I will be requesting that our IT department downgrade my set-up back to v8.0 Pro where the MDI feature is still enabled, and recommend that they investigate with other heavy Adobe users to verify their needs prior to installing v9.0 Pro on any additional computer systems.
This reminds me of the MS WORD update where they determined that the revision bars, used to track changes, was unnecessary and without consulting the program users removed this feature. That only lasted about a week before they were required to issue a patch to reinstall it into the program.
The personnel who decided to have multiple taskbars opened in lieu of a pull-down menu has never had 10-15 documents open at the same time.
The most disturbing feature is that all of the toolbars are repeated at the top of each of the pages. When you are manipulating files (side by side) having two or more sets of toolbars is a total waste of space.
Hi David,
I'm sorry to use this forum, but I've spent allllll day trying to figure out who to fix the problem when I get the following message:
"This document enabled extended features in Adobe Reader. The document has been changed since it was created and use of extended features is no longer available. Please contact the author for the original version of this document."
I am a medical student and FINALLY discovered that my secret to success is to take all of my notes on the professor's syllabi - it lets me keep everything together, no printing of hundreds of pages, etc. I SIMPLY CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT TAKING MY NOTES THIS WAY. For one of the courses (I think it's just one), I will open the document, make notes, save and close it, open it again, make notes (like comments, add text boxes, highlight), close and save, open again and will get this message. It seems to be quite random though about how many times I can open and modify and save the document.
Please let me know how to fix this problem - is it something I am doing or something the professor needs to change?
THANK YOU
Please bring back MDI. You will be losing a LOT of customers to other products because of this terrible mistake, and yes it was a mistake on your part. Just say your sorry and fix it already. I am glad I do not own Adobe stock because with moves like this your going to run your company into the ground. If I switch from Acrobat 9, and i am looking already, I will also dump the rest of your programs for fear of you crippling them too.
Wise up and listen to your client base!
I must add my voice to the year old plus complaints about removing the MDI feature. Like many others have stated, without it productivity suffers. Please stop saying it is not a bug. We don't care that you do not think it is a bug. We do and we would like it fixed. The faster the better. I would hate to have to abandon Adobe for Foxit or the like.
Is there no patch by Adobe or serious hack by third-party to get MDI feature back in yet?
Please, please, please bring back MDI. In my line of work I have to view lots of PDFs at once and having 10-20 Acrobats in the taskbar is ridiculous. Grouping windows from the same app is not a good option because it breaks desirable functions of other apps (e.g., Outlook alerts no longer pop up in their own taskbar button so they aren't as noticeable).
The removal of this feature seemed bizarre at the time and the amount of time it's taking to address it is incomprehensible. This would seem to be a basic feature.
I can only endorse what the previous persons wrote here::
Please, please, please bring back MDI.
Add my voice to those calling for the re-instatement of MDI. As an Acrobat Pro user since Pro was first released, I'm staggered and hugely disappointed with the MDI's removal. Particularly so after reading all Adobe's "What's new in Acrobat 9" documentation, and (correct me if I'm wrong) not finding this mentioned anywhere.
Try having a dozen or so PDFs open (yes, some users do have a need for this) and see how well Windows' task bar works then...
David - we're "sharing your experiences with the Acrobat team" as requested, precisely so you "can continue to make our software as useful as possible".
C'mon Adobe, show your responsiveness to customer feedback (there's certainly no shortage of it), and bring back MDI as an update ASAP.
the MDI feature enabled VERY RAPID change tracking between different versions of the same document; example:
step 1: load old version of document into MDI;
step 2: load new-version of document into MDI;
step 3: use CTRL-TAB to alternately display OLD then NEW versions of SAME PAGE of SAME DOCUMENT - the differences JUMP OUT AT YOU like they're animated.
This functionality enabled locating and identifying differences EASILY; I miss being able to use CTRL-TAB for this purpose.
Sincerely yours,
Jeff Hutchison
Structural Engineering
Sierra Nevada Corporation