Adobe will restore Linux support for its PDF-viewing software with a version 7 release this week, ZDNet UK sister site CNET News.com has learned.
In March, Adobe made a prerelease version of Reader for Linux available for download so that citizens in the Netherlands could meet their tax-filling deadlines. Now the final version of the 7.0 update is ready, Adobe confirmed on Monday.
The graphics software powerhouse said it plans to announce version 7 for Linux and make it available on its Web site on Tuesday. (Version 7.0 for Microsoft Windows shipped in November 2004.) Adobe Reader lets people read and print PDF files and the new version also enables people to fill out forms electronically.
Adobe doesn't sell Linux versions of its major desktop titles, such as Photoshop and InDesign, though it does for server products that automate publishing tasks and help manage documents. Adobe is cozying up to Linux on the desktop; in 2004 it joined a Linux consortium and started hiring staff for open source work. The new Adobe Reader version is part of that warmer stance.
"The rate of adoption of the Linux operating system among enterprises worldwide — especially among government and financial services organisations — is increasing," Eugene Lee, vice-president of marketing for Adobe's Intelligent Documents group, said in a statement. "Our customers were asking for Adobe Reader 7.0 on Linux as they begin to support core enterprise applications at the desktop."
Unsurprisingly, Adobe's move is accompanied by endorsements from top Linux sellers Red Hat and Novell. Microsoft's Windows still dominates the PC OS market, but some chinks in its armour have shown with the Firefox Web browser and OpenOffice.org desktop software suite.
Adobe included Linux support in version 5 of Reader, released in 2001, but skipped it in version 6, delivered in 2003. In January, it pledged to embrace Linux in version 7 and began beta testing the software.
Then on Saturday, the San Jose, California-based company told beta testers that the Reader update had reached "GM" status, short for "gold master" — meaning it would be the final version for shipping.
