Month: March 2013

CD or not CD… That is the question

131/365 [cd stack]More and more software companies are eliminating CDs and DVDs for product distribution, and turning to an electronic download model.  Just recently, Adobe released plans to eliminate boxed copies of its popular Creative Suite software.

It’s not just due to cost, either.  True, it’s much cheaper for a software company to deliver software this way, but it’s also more convenient for the customer.  Consider the following:

  • Most Microsoft Windows operating system updates are already delivered electronically, especially for security fixes.
  • Anti-Virus and Anti-Malware software products depend on electronic distribution to quickly update and patch security software.
  • Many new laptops, netbooks and tablets don’t even have a CD or DVD drive, which is also decreasing the need for boxed software.
  • Software companies (like us) can quickly deliver fixes and enhancements to customer reported issues as soon as they become available.
  • New products, add-ons, and utilities can also be provided as they become available.  For example, our last blog post announced availability of our new Win2PDF Desktop product.

We’ve always used an electronic distribution model for these reasons.  Our latest hotfix releases of Win2PDF can be accessed on our Win2PDF Updates support page*.  Our add-on utilities — such as the Win2PDF Mail Helper, Win2PDF Admin Utility, and Win2PDF Desktop — can be found at our Win2PDF Add-On support page.

*  If you purchased Win2PDF before November, 2009, you will need to purchase an upgrade to Win2PDF 7 to get the latest hotfixes.

And, if you still want to make a backup copy of your software, at least with our Win2PDF software, you can easily copy the Win2PDF setup program along with a text file containing your license code to a thumb drive, CD/DVD, or to the cloud (see our round-up of cloud storage services here).

We recommend always getting the latest and greatest versions available, and those can typically be found easily at each vendor’s web site.  If you have any questions about updating or re-installing our Win2PDF software, please contact us at our support page and we’ll be happy to assist you.

‘Win2PDF Desktop’ Beta – Drag & Drop Functionality for Win2PDF

We’re looking for feedback on a new add-on product to Win2PDF called Win2PDF Desktop.

What is it?  Well, basically it’s an icon that sits on your desktop and allows you to drag and drop files to create a PDF.  Normally, since Win2PDF installs as a printer, you would need to open another application (like Word, Excel, etc.) and then choose print.  This eliminates that extra step.

Win2pdf desktop

Download Win2PDF Desktop Beta today and if you encounter any issues or questions, send an email at [email protected].

If you download it, here’s a couple of notes on its usage:

  • Win2PDF Desktop Beta does require a working copy of Win2PDF to work.  When you install it, it will automatically download and install a copy of Win2PDF (if you do not already have it installed).  
  • Drag a file (or multiple files) onto the Win2PDF Desktop icon to create a PDF file.  It will open and print the default application associated with the file type (e.g., a .DOC file will open with Microsoft Word, an .XLS file will open with Microsoft Excel, etc.).  It will prompt you for where to save the file and for the name.  If you want save the PDF file without prompting, you can use the Win2PDF Auto-name capability.
  • If you double-click on the icon, it will prompt you to select a file on your hard drive.  Again, it will open and print using the default application associated with that file type.
  • If you right-click on a file in the Windows Explorer or the desktop, you can choose Send to…  –> Win2PDF Desktop
  • If you have an image (.jpg, .gif, etc.) saved to your clipboard and you double-click on the Win2PDF Desktop icon, it will convert the image to a PDF file.

We’ll have more details and documentation about the final Win2PDF Desktop product once we get some field testing completed, but feel free to give it a try today and let us know what you think.