“Some of those features, including Reader’s support of JavaScript and the PDF specification’s support for the /Launch function, have been exploited by attackers in increasing numbers since 2008,” Keizer reports. “According to tallies by antivirus vendor McAfee, PDF exploits were up more than eight times in 2009 compared to the year before, a trend that has continued into 2010.”
Keizer reports, “Office cannot open PDF documents without third-party software or add-ons… Sullivan compared his vision of a Windows PDF viewer to Preview, the application that Apple includes with Mac OS X.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Dominick P.” for the heads up.]
Adobe’s precious little FLASH is getting trotted out for what it is – a gateway to virus hell!!!
Looks like Adobe better start looking for a new business model fast…
And the truth is beginning to rear its ugly head……..
@IDArgyll
I think they were talking about PDF viewing and not Flash. Let’s not get blinded by hate.
Kill flash already!!!
Kill flash already!!!
Kill flash already!!!
Kill flash already!!!
Kill flash already!!!
Kill flash already!!!
As I understand it, Apple worked with Adobe so far back on the PDF specification (that whole putting-PostScript-on-the-map-with-PageMaker-for-Macintosh thing) that they got permission to bundle parts of it for free with the launch of OS X. Microsoft has no such agreement and would likely have to pay Adobe a royalty to implement what the article suggests.
(And now I read the article, which says PDF is royalty-free now. Oh, well.)
Microsoft DOES follow Apple’s lead. They are just usually 5 – 10 years behind, so there probably is a Microsoft PDF viewer about to debut!
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Kill Flash and Reader!
Preview is a little gem in OS X and it improved with each new version of OS X. In Snow Leopard you can now mark-up PDF documents, thereby eliminating the need for Acrobat Pro.
Wow… everyone gangrape Adobe… its just not right
@mike
You are right. For a company no one seems to care about the bloggers here and MDN go adnauseum with their hate and venom for adobe. Jeez. If apple could provide every piece of software that everone needed then it would be a different story. Be careful when all your eggs are in one basket. Not sure how this turned from a PDF reader article to a let’s-kill-flash article but it sure did pretty quickly. Lots of anger in these blogs. Makes apple fans look pretty shallow. And I AM a huge fan a major user….
My only gripe with Preview is that password protected PDFs won’t always show the password fields. That’s the only reason I have adobe reader on my mbp.
Hmm, doesn’t Firefox have a PDF viewer? If so then wouldn’t that work for some on Winbloz or is that an Apple only feature?
Microsoft already tried to do exactly what is explained in this article with Vista. Adobe threatened to sue and Microsoft backed down. Maybe some research is needed.
It’s going to be funny to hear all the MS fanboiz rave about the built in PDF viewer once MS does it. I usually sit nearby with a grin on my face and silently laugh when I hear them gather around and circle jerk something MS just did that Mac has had for 5 to 10 years.
so microsoft is not the enemy anymore… I guess they’re now Apple’s little naughty pony
Why the heck Adobe is traded at 50 P/E is beyond my understanding….
Wonder if the new Preview can do a pre-flight check on PDFs heading for the printers? Like PDF Inspektordi ?
So let me get this right, in order for Microsoft to be even remotely succesful they have to copy Apple?
So, what’s the news in this story?
:~)