So I'm testing this multimedia cd which runs through the browser before I burn it for distribution. This is in SeaMonkey, WinXP-SP2. I click on one of the links to a PDF file, and it takes like 10 minutes to load. Which is just too damn long for a 32k PDF. I figure Acrobat is upset about something, so I open it up. Sure enough, it's only at version 7.0.7, and it wants to be at 7.0.8. Fine, I make the upgrade. Unfortunately, the Acrobat plugin no longer works. In any browser - even the dreaded IE. Dammit, so now I'm thinking that the update fucked something up, and the best thing to do is reinstall Acrobat from scratch - that's what Adobe would suggest. So I go into the control panel and uninstall Acrobat 7 Professional Tryout, Acrobat Reader 7.0.8, and Acrobat Reader Language Support 7.0.5 - what a mess! Of course, you have to restart the computer to finish the uninstallation. So I go to shut down. At this point, Windows informs me that it will be installing 8 (8!!!!) critical updates!
What's sad is that this is a pretty typical afternoon logged into the Windows computer. Every fucking time, there is some fucked up thing going on. It never ends. Actually, it gets worse with every passing day - more updates, more upgrades, more applications that self-destruct. The only thing that is constantly decreasing is the system's stability.
And this ain't some half-assed software from a nobody-vendor running on a beta OS. This is Adobe and the world's operating system. You would think that with that much money, they could get their shit together.
Well, I'm headed off to Adobe to download Acrobat. Thanks for listening.
