Thought this might be valuable info to some of you. From the SMS/SCCM list:
I work for Adobe (I manage the Reader and Acrobat Installer/Updater Team) but I'm responding to this forum in an unofficial capacity. I apologize that I've been off list for so long. I've been swamped trying to get the Reader X out the door. A few notes on Reader SCUP catalogs -------------------------------------------------- . We have committed to releasing catalogs with our dot releases for AX. That infrastructure is in place, tested and ready to go as soon as we have to release a security or quarterly update. . We didn't produce a catalog to upgrade 8 and 9 users to AX (10.0) mostly because we know that a lot of enterprises prefer to work and manage within a major version of the Reader (and Acrobat). Given this, we chose to make our catalog for dot release updates only. Further, Reader X (10.0) can target a system with our without any version of Reader (and will automatically uninstall Reader 7, 8 or 9 - perhaps 6, but I have not verified this). This blanket targeting drastically reduces the value of a SCUP catalog for 10.0, though as I said, we'll release catalogs for the dot releases. I put some notes below on Deploying Reader X (10.0) without a catalog. . We're considering building a "one-off" catalog that represents Reader X (10.0) as a replacement for Reader 9. We obviously believe that Reader X is an important step up from Reader 9 and want to provide folks with as many ways to do that as possible. However, we imagined that most people who wanted to deploy Reader X would do so without a catalog as stated above. . We plan to release catalogs for both Reader and Acrobat. . The SCUP catalog will link to the MSI or MSP version of the install or update. The self-extracting executable (just an exe wrapper with an MSI and Data1.cab inside) will continue to be served from http://get.adobe.com/reader Deploying Reader X (10.0) without a catalog: ----------------------------------------------------------- Reader X (10.0) will deploy successfully regardless of which version of Reader is already on the system. By default, Reader X will uninstall previous versions of Reader (7,8,9 and I believe 6 which was before my time at Adobe). For administrative deployment, we'll release a Customization Wizard, but if you don't need to customize the Reader install, you don't need to wait for the Customization Wizard release. You can deploy with the self-extracting EXE available at http://get.adobe.com/reader/enterprise (extraction instructions available in the admin guide Angie refers to), or with the self-contained MSI available on our FTP site (ftp.adobe.com). To deploy either, you should complete the Adobe Reader Distribution Agreement on the reader/enterprise page. Angie asked for a summary of Reader X vs. Previous Versions ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------ http://blogs.adobe.com/adobereader/2010/11/adobe-reader-x-now-available.html . Protected mode - Protected Mode builds a "sandbox" to run Reader in a much more restricted manner. It SHOULD make it much harder to exploit. Sandboxing isn't a new concept, but we're one of the first and only vendors to produce a sanboxed product. This is by far the most significant benefit for an admin in my opinion, though I'll add the other bullets too =) . Sticky notes, text highlights and viewing of more content types . Improved Reading Mode (less chrome, faster load time in the browser and out) Flash Catalogs ------------------- I noticed this thread started with a conversation about the Flash catalog and flash updates, so I'll respond to that as best I can (I'm not on the Flash team, but I did follow up with them on the discussion below). . The Flash update should NOT override the mms.cfg once it's been deployed. If you are seeing this, it's a bug and please let me know. . That said even though you've deployed the mms.cfg, you may not see those settings reflected in the "Global Notifications Settings Panel". However, be assured that if you have the mms.cfg correctly deployed, you will not see an auto update and it will not be overridden by another update you deploy. Thus, you should not have to redeploy an "off switch" for auto update with each patch. The same is true for Reader. Once you've turned off auto-update, we should never turn it back on with a patch. Thanks again for your feedback and questions. From: Joseph L. Casale [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, November 19, 2010 2:19 PM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: Adobe released the Reader X today http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/it.html#deploying ".Take greater control of enterprise-wide deployments of Acrobat X and Reader X. Use this free downloadable utility to customize the Acrobat installer and configure application features before deployment. A new version of the Customization Wizard will become available shortly after the next product release date." So, does that genius prose indicate version 11's appearance marks the debut of the Customization Wizard for v10? I guess we can't take that greater control of enterprise-wide deployment for 10 until 11J From: Sam Cayze [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, November 19, 2010 12:09 PM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: Adobe released the Reader X today Discuss. http://isc.sans.edu/diary.html?storyid=9976 <http://isc.sans.edu/diary.html?storyid=9976&rss> &rss ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin
