There are already free alternatives to Acrobat. Most come in the form of a printer driver where you literally print to a PDF file. I think Acrobat has a lot of features beyond just creating a PDF from a saved document, something that seems to have been ignored in the discussion so far.
Adobe make their product more desirable than a 'save as PDF' option. Acrobat offers the following facilities above and beyond the free PDF creators: -
PDF forms.
Document reviewing.
Document commenting.
File attachments.
Include Visio custom data.
A range of security features.
I somehow doubt that Microsoft ever intended to include all this functionality within the saved PDF. I can understand Adobe's response, they are merely trying to protect their product and IP which is a very reasonable thing to do, considering how much they have spent on development.
I think the anti-MS backlash is somewhat OTT. I'm by no means a MS fanboy (quite the opposite) but let's have a bit of decorum? Mind you, what am I saying? This is an internet forum after all, rife with pedantry ;)
Adobe make their product more desirable than a 'save as PDF' option. Acrobat offers the following facilities above and beyond the free PDF creators: -
PDF forms.
Document reviewing.
Document commenting.
File attachments.
Include Visio custom data.
A range of security features.
I somehow doubt that Microsoft ever intended to include all this functionality within the saved PDF. I can understand Adobe's response, they are merely trying to protect their product and IP which is a very reasonable thing to do, considering how much they have spent on development.
I think the anti-MS backlash is somewhat OTT. I'm by no means a MS fanboy (quite the opposite) but let's have a bit of decorum? Mind you, what am I saying? This is an internet forum after all, rife with pedantry ;)