On April 7, 2015, Adobe released Acrobat DC (Document Cloud) Standard and Professional. Adobe is still offering both perpetual licensing as well as subscription-based licensing. Adobe Acrobat XI has been discontinued and you can now only upgrade from Acrobat X or XI to Acrobat DC. Anyone with versions earlier than Acrobat X will need to purchase a new license.
On November 15, 2015, Adobe will no longer offer patches or bug fixes for Adobe Acrobat X. Anyone using this product for legal or confidential purposes will need to upgrade to the latest version to make sure they are not affected by security issues.
All departments and labs are encouraged to prepare and budget accordingly. There is a bulk order price break for each set of 50 upgrades or new licenses requested on one Purchase Order (PO). Additional price breaks are available for new license requests ordered in groups of 100, 250, 500, 750 and 1000. Request a quote through Insight, Partners' software vendor at Partners@insight.com or 1.800.467.4448. A reference guide for obtaining software for use at work at Partners HealthCare can be found on the RISC website. Visit our KnowledgeBase article, Cost Estimates for Software, for additional information.
FAQ:
Q: I currently have Adobe Acrobat Professional XI. Is there anything that I need to do at this time?
A: No. If you have a perpetual license you will see no change. If you have a subscription-based license, you will be updated to Adobe Acrobat DC automatically.
Q. What are the security issues mentioned above?
A. There will be no updates or patch fixes, which could lead to hacks, viruses and breaches if you are using a version of the software that is no longer supported. See https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/end-support-acrobat-8-reader.html for more information.
Q. What are the differences between the free Adobe Acrobat Reader and the Standard and Professional versions?
A. Adobe Reader can be used to fill out and save PDFs, but you will need to purchase Adobe Acrobat DC Standard or Pro to edit a PDF.
Adobe Acrobat DC Reader is free and you can upgrade online: https://get.adobe.com/reader/
See additional FAQ online: https://helpx.adobe.com/reader/faq.html#faq_faq_1.