I’m a long-time user of the Adobe Creative Suite. So I’m more familiar with Adobe software than I’d like to be…because it is generally insanely great, from a creative point of view, and all too often not very well written, from a nuts-and-bolts point of view.
Take my most recent experience (please, take it). Adobe is rolling out the 2015 version of their software. Not necessarily a lot of amazing new features, but I don’t expect those anymore when we’re in the software subscription world. The stuff just accumulates features and fixes on an on-going basis.
But this rollout was a disaster. Because it not only uninstalled or deactivated my trusty old copy of Adobe Acrobat, it failed to install the spiffy new replacement product. Which meant I was suddenly without the ability to handle PDF files. Courtesy of the firm who invented PDF files.
Several hours of technical support spread over two days finally managed to solve the problem…I think. But I had to love the Adobe tech guy’s parting comment: “please tell Microsoft we were unable to elevate access privileges on your computer when installing the new version”.
Hello? Besides the fact that Adobe, as a software developer — in 2015 — ought to know how to write Windows software that can install an upgrade, do they really think Microsoft is going to pay more attention to feedback from me than from a giant global software company?
Wow.
No, Adobe, this one’s in your court. You make money selling into the Windows market, you have the responsibility of staying on top of working with Windows. Or just stop supporting the latest version of Windows if you have to.