FettesPS

Although I am avid hater of Adobe Acrobat, I do find PDF format itself to be quite useful. Knowing that your document is going to look a certain way when you receipient recieves it is invaluable. Nothing worse than sending out a resume or similar document in Word only to find out that when it was openned it looked entirely different due to a difference in the versions of their software. So because of this, the PDF format is widely used and nearly every computer, whether it be a Mac or PC, can open a PDF file. Unfortunately most users aren’t aware of the alternatives to Adobe Acrobat, nor are they aware of just how terrible a product Adobe Acrobat is.

Reading PDF Documents

There are numerous alternatives to Adobe Acrobat out there that are much more light weight and stable. My prefered option has always been Foxit Reader. It is a free product, and comes with a browser plugin. There is no mention of Windows 8 compatibility but if you grab the latest windows version it will work perfectly.

Another excellent option is Sumatra PDF, which is an open source product that keeps it simple. There are no bells or whistles with this product, but it works and it loads fast. Plus it works out of the box in Windows 8!

Writing PDF Documents

Most people don’t realize how simple it is create a PDF document. There are many ways it can be done, but I have always recommending installing fake print drivers that output your document to a PDF rather than to your printer. There are many products available that do this, but I have always been a supporter of Primo PDF. Their free version provides all the functionality that 99% of PC users would require. It advertises compatibility with Windows 98/NT/2000/XP/Vista but does not mention Windows 8. I have been using it now for several months in Windows 8 and have had not a single issue.

Just like in the last two incarnations of Windows, Microsoft has left the Telnet client out of the default Windows installation. But have no fear, you can quickly install the component for free and you don’t even need the Windows installation discs. Depending on if you use the Start Screen or the Desktop there are two different ways to enable Telnet:

From the Start Screen:

1. Control Panel
2. More Settings
3. Programs and Features
5. Turn Windows Features On or Off
6. Check Telnet Client
7. Hit OK

From the Desktop:

1. Move your cursor to the bottom right endge
2. Click Settings
3. Click the Control Panel button
4. Click Programs
6. Turn Windows Features On or Off
7. Check off Telnet Client
8. Hit OK

And that’s it! You don’t even have to restart your computer to use it. And always remember, Telnet is very insecure and whenever you have the choice you should always use SSH and a client such as PuTTY.

I ran into an issue while working on the road one day. Normally, whether I am working in the office or at home, I have a second monitor hooked up to my laptop. This can sometimes pose an issue when you switch to a single monitor as some windows or dialogs will not recognize that the second monitor has been removed and they will be invisible to you as they are not rendering on the screen. This is likely what triggered my issue in SQL Server, one that was not resolved when I hooked up my second monitor again the next day. In order to recover my missing Find dialog I had to reset the window layout by following the bellow steps:

After that my Find dialog displayed as expected. I had a few new panes open that I was used to seeing but I quickly closed them as I rarely use them.