You have 12 hours...

[derrickm]

Giveaway of the Day is giving away PDFZilla, a desktop application that "quickly and accurately convert PDF files into editable MS Word Documents, Rich Text Documents, Plain Text Files, Images, HTML Files, and Shockwave Flash SWF Files."

If you want to take advantage of this, you need to download AND INSTALL IT within the next 12 hours and 40 minutes.

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/

[Dave A]

That's by about 10.00a.m. SA time.

Derrick, that's one interesting site and concept! How long have you been tracking it?

I'd also be interested to hear if people would like me to add that ticker feed here somewhere.

[Frankincense]

This review seems to be the most accurate form all 116 comments...watch out for the Reg in Vista root installation seems repetitive:

The Good
* Converts PDF files to .DOC, .RTF, .TXT, .JPG, .BMP, .GIF, .PNG, .TIF, .HTML, and .SWF formats.
* Nice clean easy to use interface.
* Most conversions allow you specify which pages you want to convert.
* Fairly quick conversions.
* You can drag + drop PDF files to convert.
* You can convert multiple PDF files at once.

The Bad
* Conversion accuracy is a hit or miss (usually a hit however).
* The developer’s website page opens in your browser every time you hit “Register�.
* Converting to .GIF output format is not converted in color for some reason.
* .DOC and .RTF formats use text boxes for text.
* .DOC and .RTF conversions do not allow you to specify what pages you want to convert.
* Vista users must run PDFZilla as Administrator if they want to convert the images in PDF files.
* Installer tries to install directly into C:/ drive instead of C:/Program Files.
* Does not include the ability to convert to PDF files (i.e. create PDF files).
* Same named files will be replaced without being prompted.

Registration and Installation:
Went fine. However be weary that, by default, the installer tries to put PDFZilla in C:/PDFZilla instead of C:/Program Files/PDFZilla.

Verdict:
Despite all its shortcomings, PDFZilla is a tool that you should keep. Sure while it is a ‘hit or miss’ when it comes to conversions, it usually lands on the hit side. It does have a few annoyances and bugs but nothing that one cannot live with. And the ability to convert to so many different formats all in one program is very handy. I just wish you could convert to/create PDF files (use CutePDF for that task). However, if you have the PDF to Word/HTML/Text/Image programs that have been given out before, I suggest using those programs for those specific tasks because I found them to be more accurate then PDFZilla.

Full Review: GOTDReviews.info ***including multiple examples of each format conversions.

[3x-a-d3-u5]

If you want to convert any printable document to PDF use this program: http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/ I use it for proof of payments. Simply print it to the PDFCreator printer and save it. Baam! A PDF of the file you would've printed.

Nice find Derrick! I am downloading it right now!

[BonaFide]

Why would anyone really be interested in downloading the propriety software (even if it is free) when there are Open Source products that are just as good, if not better?

It seems that the notion that propriety software is better than OS is still very prevalent.

[Dave A]

Got any links to your favorites, BonaFide?

What impressed me about the site was the collection of feedback. A special thanks to Francois for getting the most relevant summary in here too.

[Frankincense]

Bonafide,

I would say 'coz many Surfers of the Net may not care about the difference between Open Source (OS) and Closed Source(CS) at this stage. As long as it works!

Derrick posted "it's" availability, and so the humans will flock. Had Derrick posted an OS type PDF converter, the same would occur.

By downloading CS doesn't necessarily illustrate any "notion of prevalence" above OS?

It's just "there for the taking" as has always been the case with anything downloadable in the Net(as long you scan and remain protected)

Summary:
See this from the IBM Systems Journal, July, 2005 by Alan Boulanger

CONCLUSIONS

Which is more secure: closed or open-source software? Unfortunately the answer is not that clear. In general, both FOSS and proprietary systems are roughly equivalent in terms of security and reliability. Neither is inherently more secure or reliable than the other. Analytical arguments made in favor of either approach are not conclusive. Empirical studies have suggested that FOSS can potentially outperform proprietary systems. Nonetheless, any system that was not developed to be secure invariably will not be. There are certainly proprietary systems deployed that are more secure than their FOSS counterparts (e.g., S/COMP or GEMSOS ** versus Gnu/Linux), just as there are FOSS-deployed systems that appear to be more secure than their proprietary equivalent (e.g., Apache versus Microsoft IIS)

Another problem is that every software system mentioned..., both open-source and proprietary(CS), requires frequent patching to remediate defects. Any system that requires frequent patching is inherently insecure. Using patch counts as a metric for security is misleading. A system that requires a security patch every six months is not twice as secure as a system that requires patching every three months. They are both insecure.

"The FOSS(OS) movement is gaining traction. What was once an idealized concept espoused by hackers, hobbyists, and academics is now formalized and organized and is the dominant technology behind the Internet. As FOSS-based technologies continue to gain market share, proprietary software publishers will be forced to innovate to remain competitive and survive. It will be interesting to watch and see where FOSS technology takes us in the future. It will be even more interesting to participate."

From: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...g=artBody;col1

So there are very good reasons for downloading either at this stage of infancy of both Man & Machine.

In this case it would be to convert PDF to Word etc...

It's truelly All Good!

[Yvonne]

Giveawayoftheday - any chance these are 30 day "trial" programs?

Yvonne

[Yvonne]

Apologies, just checked the site and it states that these are not trials.

I used to download from this site, and know for sure that one of the programs was a trial and expired - I was devistated at the time. (About 24 months- 18 months ago!)
Wish I had not uninstalled it, perhaps they would have let me keep using the program!

Personally I am too scared to download from open source software, so would appreciate any recommendations from any IT experts on the forum!

Thanks
Yvonne

[derrickm]

I use Open Source software all the time. My browser is Firefox, my email client is Thunderbird, I use OpenOffice, WordPress, GIMP and Filezilla on a daily basis.

There are some proprietary applications I use because I haven't found OS equivalents, or because I'm happy with them: Camtasia Studio and Sony Vegas fall into this category.

OS software is getting better all the time, and many OS programs are better than what's commercially available.

I can't remember having a malware problem with any OS software application - viruses and trojans tend to be included with toolbars and other 'helpful' freebies.

[3x-a-d3-u5]

I use Open Source software all the time. My browser is Firefox, my email client is Thunderbird, I use OpenOffice, WordPress, GIMP and Filezilla on a daily basis.

You read my mind for best OS programs. I use all of those to, and find they always supply me with the functionality one would expect to see from any CS or paid-program. In many instances OS is better as there are real people using the software with real responses and real programmers who make the changes. OS is soo coool!

@ Yvonne: If you are looking for a collection of certidfied malware free software check out the http://sourceforge.net collection. That is where i start looking for software before I even check Google sometimes!

The program i suggested PDFCreator is Open Source and therefore free

[Sieg]

you have 12 hours

I was one of those who was too late. I downloaded the program but payment is now required.

I need to convert one pdf document (a relatively simple document containing the old and new street names in Durban) to MS Word format so I was sorry that I had lost out on this "bargain" program.

However, a google search revealed the following site for conversion from pdf to other formats: http://www.freepdfconvert.com/

I uploaded my document that I wanted converted and within a few minutes, the ms word format conversion was in my inbox.

Sieg

[daveob]

For those interested, you may also want to look at this free app :

http://www.pdfsam.org/

I downloaded and installed the Basic 1.0.0 version a few months back.

It allows you to split a multi-page pdf to seperate files, but more importantly to merge multiple pdf files into 1 pdf file.

I find it very useful when I scan various paper documents each into single pdf files, and also print other word documents to PDFcreator, then use pdfsam to join all the relevant pdf files into 1 pdf.