Dear Microsoft,
We’d like you to consider developing a PDF reader for your Windows OS.
Something such as Apple’s Preview would be great:
“To view a PDF file, just double-click it to open it in Preview.”
Mac doesn’t require a third-party application to view PDFs, so why does Windows?
Heck, you don’t even need to build it into the OS. Just make it an optional download such as your Save As PDF add-in for Office.
We know, we know… even though anyone is allowed to create applications that can read and write PDF files without having to pay royalties to Adobe Systems, you guys can’t. You’re just too big and can’t ship add on PDF functionality without freaking out Adobe.
But you know what?
You really shouldn’t care anymore. Freak them out.
Your customers are tired of the exploits and the complications that so many of today’s PDF readers include.
We just want to read PDFs. We don’t want to /launch executables, to play video & audio, or to run JavaScript. A viewer that provides the basic functionality of the PDF/A standard is all we want. Is that so much to ask?
Please give it some thought, thanks.