Cannot Download/Install Adobe Editions 1.7.2

[OddB]

I cannot download Adobe Digital Editions 1.7.2.

I'm currently running CS5.5 on Mac OSX 10.7.2 - The Digital Editions download page tells me "Sorry, but your system does not meet the minimum system requirements".

Has this app not been updated to work with 10.7.2?

And, if not, will it be updated?

[frankb201]

You have to manually install Digital Editions.  Instructions can be found here - http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/403/kb403051.html.

[Alex_Olson]

Downloading the program like that is fine, but downloading an ePub is a problem... This needs to be fixed for OSX.

[Frustrated in AZ]

I'd put it the other way. Apple changed something in that release that

affects ADE and other programs. THEY need to fix the OS.

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[Alex_Olson]

Semantics and finger pointing doesn't fix the issue that a software installer does not work with a later version of an operating system.

[Frustrated in AZ]

Every time a version of an operating system is released, every software

company scrambles to find out whether there's something else they need to

do. Every release of an OS should be tested with existing software

packages to make sure it's still compatible. So both sides need to do

something. I get tired, though, of hearing people diss ADE because of

something somebody else did.

===================

[Alex_Olson]

Well since it did not work in 10.7.2 in October 2011 and here we are in May 2012 and it doesn't work in 10.7.3 who do you really think is the problem?  There is nothing wrong with ADE, it works great once installed manually.  The problem is the flash based installer thinks the system does not meet the minimum requirements for ADE to run and it will not install.  Some ePub retailers have the flash based installer check to see if ADE is installed and checks the requirements before allowing you to download the acsm file to get your book. Which means you can not get something you purchased.  So yes, I am dissing the inept flash installer and believe that instead of asking Apple to change an operating system to make this little thing work, maybe the developers of this little thing can.

[Frustrated in AZ]

Maybe. But the nail you hit is that the flash installer is implemented

differently by different software developers. That's a different set of

issues.

===========

[Frustrated in AZ]

Alex, I thought about what you said again. I think you may be on the edge

of discussing digital rights content management, which is different from

Flash. Let me take a moment to talk about that.

Adobe Content Server 5 or above has been adopted as one of the industry

standard protocols for publishers, distributors and authors to use to

implement digital rights. Although it's embedded in ADE, it's also

embedded in other epublication management software, such as Overdrive,

Calibre and Bluefire reader. If some of the ebooks you're working with

have digital rights protection, it's because the publisher or distributor

specified whether you're allowed to copy or print the epublication you're

working with. Amazon and Apple have chosen to use a different method to

activate digital rights protection in the epublications they distribute.

So, if you have an ebook with digital rights and you attempt to download it

from Apple onto a Mac, it will act differently than if you went to another

site (except Amazon) and tried to download it onto your Mac. In the first

instance, Apple will manage the process completely, interfacing with its

software on the Mac, and putting the ebook into an Apple library. In the

second instance, ADE will manage the process and put the ebook into its own

library.

Flash doesn't do any of this. If it's preventing you from going further,

it's managing application access, not application actions.

Does that make sense in explaining any of what's going on?

===================

[Alex_Olson]

Thank you for the extra consideration, but that is not what is happening.  The Adobe Content Server handles the download of the DRM protected ePub using the acsm file provided by sites, such as Overdrive libraries or online ebook retailers.  I have not experienced any issues downloading items after getting an acsm file. With overdrive.com, they do not check for ADE before giving you an acsm file and the content opens ADE and downloads fine. The problem lies before that with other sites.  The only way I was able to get the content that I purchased from a particular website was to save the acsm file from my Windows PC and open it on my Mac to start the download. The problem is not DRM, it functions as it should, posing no problems to accessing my content.  It is a pre-check for system requirements, whether it is written in Flash or Shockwave I am not certain, but it is the same installer problem I have when I tried to install Adobe Digital Editions from the Adobe webpage.

[Frustrated in AZ]

Hmmm.... If this is happening only on the Windows PC, then I'm beginning

to think that the Win 7 security settings may be intervening between you

and your download. Win 7 requires a certain amount of twiddling in order

to permit outside sites to activate programs located on your computer.

===============

[Alex_Olson]

The problem is on Mac OSX 10.7.x.