Rant #2 - Adobe Updates

If you're like 99% of us out there, you've been asked to integrate Adobe pdf documents into one of your applications.

Have you ever completed this task, just to have a user complain that their workstation "freezes" or "locks up" (the terms used may vary here) when they attempt to view the pdf document?

Is the culprit Windows? A slow workstation? No - unfortunately the culprit is likely the insidious Adobe Updates. This mechanism basically freezes the launching of Adobe until you answer whether or not you wish to install the latest updates.

Typically when the user reports this, an Adobe window can be found minimized on the Task Bar, waiting for a response.

Yes - those of you out there saying "Why not just turn off the auto updates in the Adobe settings?" are correct; however, we're talking about workstations that are remote and that you don't get a chance to configure, so you're up to the diligence (or lack thereof) of the system administrators to turn off this feature at your request.

And we all know how much System Administrators love requests from developers... :-)