[robertRoss]

Agreed Photonerd.
This statement:
Adobes ambition in this acquisition looks like a bit of a Longhorn-killer to me, Governor said.
Is very odd. Sure, some of these products may well compete against some products from Microsoft but the Adobe suite of Acrobat, ColdFusion (competing against ASP, PHP, JSP, etc), Flash, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Illustrator, Frame, InDesign, etc. are not OS killers, Longhorn or otherwise. I'm willing to bet that each of these products, and others, will support Longhorn actually.

[ndelc]

I don't think you're seeing the whole picture yet. Forget Photoshop, Illustrator, GoLive, and InDesign. While Adobe makes a ton of money off those products, their real focus is on document workflow. The general consensus is that they plan to incorporate PDF with Flash, and some of Macromedia's server products like ColdFusion to make products that will automate document management and workflow in ways that do not yet exist.
Forget that Microsoft makes Windows and Office. For the last few years they have supposedly been working on a document format to compete directly with PDF, as well as some server products that will automate document management and workflow in ways that do not yet exist.
Do you see where the point about competition comes in? Now, I don't understand why the author talks about it being a Longhorn killer, but I'll point out that that was a comment made by an analyst, not MacCentral.

[robertRoss]

Which is what I said. However, why was the quote from an analyst highlighted by the editor as it were?

[pcharles]

I totally agree. Why would any web designer want to have a stupid flashing flashy thingy that serves no purpose beyond irritating customers? It makes no sense for them to have all that flashing followed by a "Click here to go to the web site."
Having said that, flash does have a few uses. I think it is of vital importance to the nation that animated greeting cards are available to send. I cannot imagine my life without the ability to send an obnoxious loud greeting to someone who is in the middle of an important meeting. It is also useful for academic purposes such as disecting dead cats and frogs over the internet or looking at the internal organs of a presidential candidate to see if they really are human.:p
Oh! Yeah! They are also great for making games and crosswords, and jigsaw puzzles. You just have to check out USA Today for proof of that!!!!
http://puzzles.usatoday.com/

[moose_n_squirrel]

In reply to:

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or the day Adobe starts making office suites and operating systems, is the day they start competing in earnest.

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Wow, where have you been? Have you seen the range of office products Adobe has been rolling out? They're trying to build an empire around PDF. You have to get past thinking office products = word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation. They're making so much money from office (42% growth, you konw, like the iPod) that they think Acrobat could turn into half of the company within a few years.

In reply to:

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Adobe can't win this war without Apple. If they are going to take on the keeper of the OS, then they have to get the main alternative platform in graphics and design to work with them. Where is parity with Acrobat Pro? Where is FrameMaker for OS X?

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Adobe is setting it up so that it doesn't matter which OS we use, because all the important graphics functions will go through their system. They don't actually need to win against Microsoft or Apple. I think they just want to make sure they never have to depend on either of them.

[Grapho]

You simply display your profound ignorance at what Flash has become. It's not only for dancing graphics. You could tie it to a database and have a whole e-commerce site that would be very easy to manage for example. You can create extremely sophisticated front end applications with Flash, so don't be so quick to dismiss it just because you don't know what it dose or how it works.

[srookard]

While we're talking about flash --- probably the best implementation I've ever seen -- http://tourcast.pgatour.com
They used to offer live demo's -- but now it appears the only thing you can get is a static tutorial. Either way -- very cool.

[bastion]

In reply to:

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For the last few years they have supposedly been working on a document format to compete directly with PDF, ...

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It should be noted that the seeds of that effort actually predate PDF by a fair margin. While Apple was working on the scalable font technology that became TrueType, Microsoft was working on a complementary toolset that did page description. They were supposed to be released at the same time.

[j_drake]

As we talk about pressure on MS some of you might be interested in this
/forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[jackaxe]

Well stated, I couldn't agree more.
<]=)

[jackaxe]

I think that some of these big businesses are blind to Macs, because of ther narrow sited and willingly ignorant MIS peeps who make the recommendations. Afterall, why would they want to make their job less secure by introducing a product that simply works better and needs less maintenance. Linux would only guarantee their job security. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
All the peeps I know that used Linux now use Macs. I hope this trend keeps up.
<]=)

[PeterG]

I wish that was true, Abobe needing Mac. I work in Real Estate and they are quite happy to run the second best OS, Windows and have all the developers write specifically for MSIE.
There is an e-program called Winforms. It is written for Windows and the files are sent out in a pdf format. They ignore the Mac, how stupid is that. I can accept the file but I'm unable to fill any form out because it's written for exe. Please don't mention VPC.
The RE Industry gets paid a fee by it's members, and across the Country that's millions and they only write for Windows.
My point, As long as developers write for Windows ignoring Mac and Linux sending out forms in an Adobe pdf format Mac is in trouble. It's all about money. One OS Windows, One Browser (IE).
If Adobe can get companies to write/develop for them using any OS, then you have entirely different ball game. If Adobe combines Internet Development tools written to send files in Acrobat that has got to scare MS. I hope they do.
We get our information using browsers (except it's MSIE specific). I keep telling Agents we don't get our info using Word Perfect.
Check out Winforms.com.
Thanks, I know I went in another direction but I was trying to show another angle.
PeterG
imac, 10.3.9, 800, 768mb

[Mac007]

...they want Uncle Bill to buy them out. The top executives will get cushy jobs or golden parachutes, the best worker bees will move to MS, and the rest will be told to hit the road. Nothing personal of course. Business is business and all that. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[SGP_MacUser]

I do not really agree with your opinion.
MS, as I observed, is keen in fundamental technologies. It is with these fundamental base technologies (just like the OSes) that they seek control and power over the higher levels, that is the applications.
Many here are referring to Acrobat and Flash. These are capable base technologies as PostScript is. With these, other applications are built upon and that is where one controls. (Remember how NEXT uses Display PostScript for its visual display and now uses Quartz?)
Another instance is the Java. Java is a language in some ways similar to Flash and Acrobat. Many now that what MS and Java story is like. There was a tussle for mother Sun to claim back its baby named Java in the legal court.
Also, the Enterprise and the Document management, DAM, Spotlight, are some keywords to look out for.
Next, Flash is a very strong technology and very versatile. I have seen some early demos. The problem I see in Flash is its deployment. many uses it for the sake of using it because it is there. If they apply it correctly, it can change the world. But the problem is that there is very little good Flash programmers out there. Moreover, users are lagging behind Flash technological advancement.