Mike Potter

August 29, 2005

Beta test the next generation of Distiller / Elements Server

Adobe Distiller Server and Adobe Elements Server are being replaced by a new product called LiveCycle PDF Generator. The beta program for that product is now accepting applicants. If you want to test out the next generation PDF conversion product from Adobe, you can join in on the beta program. You'll be among the first to check out our next gen server side PDF generation product, and we'll use your feedback to help improve the product and documentation. Before applying, I'll warn you that you should know something about application servers, since you may be required to install or maintain one in order to run LiveCycle PDF Generator.

August 23, 2005

Yahoo Desktop Search

I've been using desktop searching programs for a while now, and like many others have found them to be indispensible. Today, I installed Yahoo! Desktop Search, and was really impressed by it. I love the fact that when you search for emails, it shows you all the reply and forward controls, but even better was when I searched for a PDF document, and could see the document below the search. Nice! Now if only we could get the same functionality in Thunderbird or Outlook.

Getting User Feedback On Documentation

A few weeks ago we added what I think is a pretty cool feature to some of the PDFs that we've been uploading to the enterprise developer centers. We've created a PDF form using LiveCycle Designer to allow users to give us feedback on the PDF document that they're reading.

For instance, if you go to the Designer Developer Center and download the document on integrating XML schemas with LiveCycle Designer, you should see the attachments bar open at the bottom of Reader or Acrobat. Double clicking on that attachment will open up a form created in Designer, allowing you to send feedback to the developer team about the document.

As we grow, we'll be adding feedback mechanisms to all sorts of things we create. We're continually reading the Adobe Forums, and we really do read the feedback that we get. We hope to use the feedback to improve the articles that we're writing, to make them more relevant to the needs to enterprise developers.

So, the next time you download something from the enterprise developer section, take a look to see if its got a feedback form, and send us your comments. By doing so, we'll be able to improve the documents we create, and hopefully help make your job a little bit easier.

August 18, 2005

LiveCycle Designer Trial Updated To Version 7

We updated the trial version of LiveCycle Designer today to version 7, from version 6. There are now 3 ways to try Designer:

1. Online, without having to download anything, at http://adobe.demoservers.com You can also try Acrobat Pro on that machine. You login to the server, and can use the product(s) for 3 hours at a time, allowing anyone to try it out without having to download anything.

2. Standalone download at http://www.adobe.com/products/server/adobedesigner/tryreg.html This is what we updated to version 7, so if you've recently tried to download it an got version 6, uninstall that and get the most recent version.

3. Bundled with the Acrobat Pro 7 trial at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobatpro/tryout.html

August 16, 2005

LiveCycle Designer Hosted Trial

One of the areas that I think I can really help out with my blog is to highlight the new items on our LiveCycle developer centers, which is the main focus of my job right now. I'll try and post content updates that we have, so there's an easy place for developers to find new information on the site (we don't have new! sprinkled throughout the site).

To that extent, the first thing that I'd like to point out is the hosted trial for LiveCycle Designer and Acrobat 7. They are hosted by a company called Surgient, and allow you to play around with Designer or Acrobat, without having to download or install anything. Its great for people who can't modify their systems (eg. government employees, developers etc...) but still want to see what the product(s) can do.

LinuxWorld Wrap Up

Well, we've wrapped up our booth at LinuxWorld, and overall I'd have to say it was a great success. The booth staff was kept busy all week, answering questions about why we were there, what LiveCycle is, when Photoshop will be available on Linux... Our next event is the Intel Developer Forum, in San Francisco, in two weeks.

One of the most surprising things for me was the fact that people relate Adobe to Acrobat. Many people came up and said that they were running Adobe 5 or Adobe 6, meaning Acrobat, but at the same time, when they saw a big Adobe booth, they thought that Acrobat was available on Linux. (Its not, though Reader is, and so is the Acrobat SDK for creating plugins in Acrobat and Reader). We had many requests to port the Creative Suite over to Linux, as well as Acrobat, and will report back what was requested.

I didn't get to walk around the show floor too much, but was also impressed with BlackDog, a complete Linux server available on a tiny device that plugs into your USB port.

August 08, 2005

At Linux World

Well, I've arrived safe and sound here in San Francisco, after a fairly uneventful airplane ride from Ottawa this afternoon. I'm looking forward to a great show here. We'll be showing off all kinds of new software running on Linux, and last week the team at CodeWeavers got Designer and Acrobat running inside Crossover. I'm not sure its of demo quality, so I'll probably show Designer inside Windows instead, but its nice to know that it works, without too many major problems.

It will be interesting to see the crowd tomorrow. Obviously I'm expecting the standard "What does Adobe have to do with Linux?" questions, but I'm also interested to see if the rumours of a more business focused crowd are true. Time will tell...