Acrobat 8 Pro feels remarkably faster than its predecessor.

With Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional, Adobe offers a redesigned, Universal version of its flagship application for creating and distributing PDF (Portable Document Format) content. The new release focuses on and underscores the growing importance of collaboration and digital document management.

With this version, which will be part of Creative Suite 3, Mac users now have only one choice: Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional. Once you get over the loss of the Standard edition, you'll probably love what you see. First and foremost, it looks and feels like a true Mac OS X application. It sports a redesigned, task-oriented user interface with customizable toolbars. And, on Intel Macs, it feels remarkably faster than its predecessor.

Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional introduces some innovative new features. For example, the new Combine Files wizard makes it easy to arrange a set of files and merge them into a single PDF document or assemble them into a PDF package (a container for multiple documents). A PDF package preserves the security settings of the original files, such as digital signatures, and can protect its contents with additional security features.

New features in Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional:

＊ Combine multiple files into a PDFpackage

Combine multiple files into a searchable, sort able PDF package that maintains the individual security settings and digital signatures of each included PDF document.

＊ Auto-recognize form fields

Automatically locate form fields in static PDF documents and convert them to interactive fields that can be filled electronically by anyone using free Adobe Reader software. (Windows only)

＊ Manage shared reviews

Easily conduct shared reviews - without IT assistance - that allow review participants to see one another's comments and track the status of the review.

＊Enable advanced features in Adobe Reader

Enable anyone using Adobe Reader to participate in document reviews, fill and save electronic forms offline, and digitally sign documents.

＊ Permanently remove sensitive information

Permanently remove metadata, hidden layers, and other concealed information, and use redaction tools to permanently delete sensitive text, illustrations, or other content.

＊ Archive Microsoft Outlook e-mail in PDF

Configure Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional to automatically archive e-mail in Microsoft Outlook for easy search and retrieval. (Windows only)

＊ Archive Lotus Notes e-mail

Convert e-mail in Lotus Notes to Adobe PDF to facilitate searching, archiving, and retrieval. (Windows only)

＊ Save in Microsoft Word

Take advantage of improved functionality for saving Adobe PDF files as Microsoft Word documents, retaining the layout, fonts, formatting, and tables.

＊ Enjoy improved performance and support for AutoCAD

More rapidly convert AutoCAD® drawing files into compact, accurate PDF documents, without the need for the native desktop application.

＊ Take advantage of a new, intuitive user interface of Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional

Complete tasks more quickly with a streamlined user interface, new customizable toolbars, and a "Getting Started" page to visually direct you to commonly used features.

I'll state this upfront: I find many of the changes in Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional inexplicable. Although the entire package is fairly pricey ($499; upgrade $159) and was traditionally aimed at high-level users and print production folks, this version's "improvements' are aimed at, um, well, I couldn't really identify a target audience. Some of the changes may confuse and frustrate long-time print-production professionals while adding features that most businesses may not need.

Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional software empowers educators and students to reliably create, combine, share, and control media-rich Adobe PDF documents for easy, more secure communication, collaboration, and timesaving electronic workflows.