[thelist] Do we still need to say Download Acrobat Reader?

[Jon Haworth]

Hi Graham,

> I still tend to accompany PDF download links with
> their filetype and a link to the Adobe website, but
> I don't think I've ever seen a link to the Microsoft
> website saying "You'll need to buy Word to view this".
> Is that because Word costs money, or is it because we
> assume that everyone knows how to open a DOC?

I think it's because Word is so pervasive these days, and it's generally
assumed that if you're looking at a page that offers documents for download,
you know what Word is. Whether this is a valid assumption or not depends on
your visitors, I suppose.

Personally I'd put the Adobe hat tip on there. It could be just a
straightforward link - <a href="foo.pdf">pdf version<a> (requires <a
href="adobe.com/...">free reader</a>) - and, as Austin says, it shows you
care.

FWIW, there is a free Word reader at
http://office.microsoft.com/downloads/2000/wd97vwr32.aspx, to which you
could also link if you wanted to be *extra* friendly :-)

Cheers
Jon