Adobe Digital Editions vs AlfaReader

2022. Alfareader adds highlited annotations and notes



Alfa.NetSoft has released the new version of their reading app for Windows - Alfareader. The software was fully revamped and redesigned. It's home page now provides Google-like search with attractive bookshelf of recently read books. You can now adjust not only reading template, but also the theme of the main interface. The new timeline tool allows quickly navigate inside book. Moreover, Alfareader now provides tools to save and manage knowledge-blocks. You can easily annotate/highlight text and save the citate to Highlights panel. You can also add own notes/comments to these citates. Besides, Alfareader has a separate section where you can read and manage highlighted notes from all your books.


2017. Older versions of Adobe Digital Editions are no longer compatible with Overdrive



Ebook catalog software Adobe Digital Editions allows you to transfer e-books borrowed from the library or another bookstore to your e-reader, smartphone, or tablet. Many users have been encountering numerous errors recently with older versions of Digital Editions. In recent months, Google Play, Overdrive and various other online retailers have updated their Adobe Content Server, causing compatibility issues for those using outdated versions of Adobe Digital Editions. If you use this software, it’s advisable to upgrade to version 4.5, which appears to function correctly at present.


2016. Adobe Digital Edition patches critial security flaws



In the endlessly improbable universe of software vulnerabilities, Adobe Digital Editions, the e-book manager that promises to bring literary wonders to your screen, has unwittingly become the digital equivalent of a "Hitchhiker's Guide" to hacking. Like all things Adobe, it seems to attract cyber-scoundrels with an enthusiasm only rivaled by Vogons composing poetry. Four particularly egregious bugs, capable of executing arbitrary code with alarming flair, were recently discovered in the program. Given its penchant for chatting with the Internet to fetch updates and books, this poses a very real and non-hypothetical threat to your computer’s well-being. In an act of galactic good sense, Adobe has now deployed a security update to seal these gaping wormholes. If you rely on Adobe Digital Editions to corral your literary treasures, do the sensible thing: update now, or risk your e-books turning into an impromptu guide on malware misadventures.


2015. Adobe Digital Editions app for the iPad released



In a move that might best be described as “functional but not exactly thrilling,” Adobe has brought its personal library organizer, Adobe Digital Editions, to the iPad. It dutifully handles ePUBs (yes, including the flashy ePUB3) and PDFs, but it does so with all the enthusiasm of a bureaucrat clocking in on a Monday morning. Upon installation, users are greeted by a utilitarian guide to reading ePUBs and PDFs—hardly the sort of experience to make one swoon over the possibilities of digital publishing. To be fair, Adobe isn’t alone in this somewhat ho-hum approach; even Apple, with its iBooks Store, seems content to let its own iBooks Author languish in the shadows. Still, when it comes to accessing eBooks from local libraries, Adobe Digital Editions might be just the trusty-but-uninspired tool you need.


2014. Adobe’s e-book reader tracks readers’ data



According to an Ars report, Adobe Digital Editions, the e-book and PDF reader utilized by thousands of libraries, provides users access to electronic lending libraries—actively records and reports every document readers add to their local “library” along with their activities with those files. Even more concerning, these logs are transmitted over the Internet in plaintext, enabling anyone who can monitor network traffic (such as the National Security Agency, Internet service providers, cable companies, or others sharing a public Wi-Fi network) to track readers’ activities.


2014. Adobe Digital Editions 3.0 promises better DRM, layout support



In a move that could only be described as quintessentially Adobe, the tech giant has unveiled the latest iteration of its library-wrangling opus, Adobe Digital Editions 3.0, for both Windows and Mac—an offering so full of features that it practically demands a sit-down and a nice cup of tea before diving in. The pièce de résistance this time around? A shiny new DRM scheme, described with the sort of guarded enthusiasm that makes one suspect it's been fitted with an invisibility cloak to ward off unauthorised eyeballs. Search improvements? Oh, absolutely—PDF hunters can now zero in on text like literary sleuths confined to a specific range. The program also tips its hat to vertical layouts and orientation by flirting with the “epub-text-orientation” CSS property, offering support for four out of six values (because who needs all six, really?). Special characters have finally decided to behave themselves, aligning nicely whether they’re full- or half-width. And the kicker? This digital librarian is free to download, but only if you flash your Adobe ID, a key to unlock the magical realm of eBooks wrapped snugly in DRM.


2014. Adobe Digital Editions 2.0 adds accessibility support



Adobe has rather jauntily unveiled Adobe Digital Editions 2.0, a free and positively clever little program for herding your ebooks onto a PC or Mac. For the first time ever, it’s brought along some accessibility tricks up its metaphorical sleeves, making it much more agreeable for readers who use high-contrast screens or assistive software like Window-Eyes (Windows), VoiceOver (Mac), JAWS, or NVDA. And, as if that weren’t enough to warrant a mildly impressed eyebrow raise, it also comes equipped with shiny new mobile reader technology that lets you sync your digital tomes between devices. Features like Vendor ID, Bookseller ID, and even Japanese text support mean you can merrily log in with your Google or Barnes & Noble accounts to access your literary loot. Best of all, it’s a free download (hooray for that), though do note you’ll need a suitably EPUB-savvy eBook Reader to ferry your books hither and thither—details on compatible devices can be found here.


2013. AlfaReader - new cool PDF/EPUB reading app for Windows PC



The creators of the popular ebook management software Alfa eBooks Manager have developed a new ebook reading application for desktop PCs - AlfaReader. It's promoted as a lightweight and speedy ebook reader, perfect for reading electronic magazines, educational textbooks, medical, scientific, technical books and illustrated children's books. It supports PDF, EPUB and TXT formats and allows users to create an attractive virtual bookshelf, set bookmarks and view ebook metadata. AlfaReader offers various e-reader templates, including a realistic virtual book with page-flipping effects. What we find most appealing is its EPUB reader, which enables users to split a book into pages, bookmark pages and view zoomed images. AlfaReader is completely free, making it a great option for those who prefer reading books on a desktop.