Adobe Digital Editions 1.0.464

Publisher's description of Adobe Digital Editions

Note: The Download Now link will take you to the Adobe Web site for completion of the download and installation.

Adobe Digital Editions is an engaging new way to read and manage eBooks and other digital publications. Digital Editions is built from the ground up as a lightweight, Rich Internet Application (RIA). Digital Editions works online and offline, and supports PDF and XHTML-based content as well as Flash SWF for rich interactivity.

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Editor's review of Adobe Digital Editions

The only major medium left without a definitive, comprehensive management system has been books. Adobe's Digital Editions wants to be the iTunes of the e-book world, and it's made some serious inroads toward that goal.

The familiar design is a smart move. E-book management happens through the Library view's left navigation bar or the Menu bar. An icon-based layout in the center panel shows your books, with the icon taken from the first page to make it more recognizable. Author, publisher, page count and other salient details are available through the Item Options tab on the icon. The List view has this info instantly available. The navigation bar features your Last Read e-book at the top, followed by bookshelves listing All Items, Borrowed, Purchased, and Recently Read. Toolbar buttons toggle between Thumbnail and List views.

Digital Editions officially supports PDF and EPUB files, although we got XHTMLs to work, too. The Reading view allows you to print, view facing pages, bookmark pages, and zoom. The Search function works with both individual words and complex phrases, but zooming requires manipulating the Fit to Width and Custom Fit buttons. Also, we could only get it to work with the PDF format.

As with most Adobe downloads, the installation could be better. You don't need to register--yet--but you must go to the Adobe Web site. Flash handles the installation process, so there's no file to save to your machine. Overall, we think that Digital Editions is an excellent first try, and we hope to see future versions with more file support, functionality improvements, and a browser for e-book discovery.

User reviews of Adobe Digital Editions

• Average user rating: out of 12 votes
• Your rating: Write your own review

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  Adobe Digital Editions

  questionable installer

  by: TigrrrTamer on 28-Jan-2008 11:01:54 AM

  Pros: This doesn't seem to do much extra than A windowsexplorer+adobereader combination. I find that windows explorer is just fine for managing my documents, with a preview function, and adobe reader that does pretty much everything else in my document that this is reported to do. (like handle how the document displays, etc).

  Cons: these flash-nazis are always finding new ways to promote flash! flash was originally written to produce adware and banner ads. they of course found it new revenue streams, but it remains ad-production-ware. I of course, block flash in my browser. so using a flash install routine isn't going to work for me. I refuse to use a product that forces me to use flash.

  besides, there is enough risk when installing new apps in a computer... who needs one that doesnt do much for you?

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  Adobe Digital Editions

  Good start. Needs improvement

  by: ohilthegreat on 20-Jun-2007 07:08:25 PM

  Pros: Nice and cute looking interface. Great concept. Good choice with flash. Eases the pain of having to read an e-book on your computer.

  Cons: Not many features. No importing of e-books. Supports few formats. But then again, lots of improvement is expected...this being Adobe n all!

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  Adobe Digital Editions

  Seriously flawed - needs redesign

  by: epaalx on 06-Jul-2007 10:45:23 PM

  Cons: Replaces perfectly functioning Reader 7

  No full-screen

  Crude rendering

  Slow to start

  Slow to execute

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  Adobe Digital Editions

  DRM'd Nightmare

  by: rpahlkot on 16-Feb-2008 07:32:33 AM

  Pros: Simple

  Cons: Simplistic, takes the portable out of PDF, unable to transfer DE products to mobile devices that support PDF

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  Adobe Digital Editions

  Frustrating and altogether rubbish

  by: on 15-Dec-2007 11:22:52 AM

  Pros: It can read certain specially encrypted e-books (though if these e-books could be read by other programs, this benefit would not apply)

  Cons: -Sluggish interface: even though graphically slick, very sluggish response in scrolling.

  -Unresponsive to clicking - sluggish beyond belief

  -Very poor readability of volume titles, with sluggish adjustment of column widths to display more/less of title/source/length etc

  -All the above is extremely frustrating, given that e-books could be read using existing programs such as acrobat, if only the e-books were not encrypted to be 'digital editions only'

  Overall: a sluggish program which is frustrating to use. The worst program I have been effectively forced to use to read encrypted e-books. Really bad. Wish there were some good, free alternatives out there. Avoid this program unless absolutely necessary.

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