Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader version 2.1 released

CoolType, Give/Lend + Dictionary included .

25 April 2001

Version 2.1 of the Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader brings with it three new features, being CoolType font rendering, a built-in interactive dictionary, and the ability to lend or give titles with the publisher’s permission. The dictionary and give/lend feature were previously only available with the "plus" version of the former Glassbook Reader prior to the acquisition of Glassbook by Adobe Systems.

CoolType technology is Adobe’s response to Microsoft’s ClearType Technology as included with the Microsoft Reader. This falls into the realm of sub-pixel rendering and involves a process called color anti-aliasing which controls the individual red, green and blue sub-pixels on an Liquid Crystal Display (LCD). The process provides an effectively higher horizontal resolution when displaying monochrome text. An example of where this would be most effective is in displaying black text on a white background. Note: this does not provide any advantage on a standard monitor where pixels are the smallest addressable unit of display.

Whilst a dictionary is now bundled with the Acrobat eBook Reader, it is not the same dictionary as was provided with the Glassbook Plus Reader. The plus version previously came with the American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition, published by Houghton Mifflin whereas the new free dictionary provided is Proximity Technology, Inc.'s American Dictionary®, published by Merriam-Webster®.

The give/lend feature allows you to transfer ebooks to friends, and colleagues as long as the publisher has specifically enabled this permission.

With the inclusion of the give/lend feature and dictionary into the baseline Acrobat eBook Reader product, it would appear that the Plus Reader is no longer.

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