Adobe Acrobat Reader DC 64-bit edition

Adobe has now released a 64-bit version. The update is dated February 9, 2021. It's version 21.001.20135. It's currently limited to three countries: Britain, Australia, and New Zealand. Presumably it will be extended to the US and Canada later this year.

Contrary to the naysayers here, Adobe says that moving to 64-bit makes the app more responsive and enables it to more efficiently handle multiple large files. It is also claims more "robust performance", whatever that means (launch speed? interaction speed?)

Link: https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/whats-new.html

Screenshot below:

Hi, 

++Ading to this old thread, see this other discussion https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat/how-do-i-change-from-32-bit-to-64-bit/m-p/10896844?page=1#M23...

Now you can download and install the new MS Edge Browser and enable the Adobe Acrobat extension in it.

The new MS Edge browser for Windows 10 is  basically replica of a Chrome web browser but  with the coolest ability to install 64bit extension from the Google Playstore and other stores as well.

To clarify, there was a brief period where older web browsers used to support Netscape Plugin Application Programming Interface (NPAPI).

NPAPI,  which dates back to 1995, became a standard to develop plugins and it was adopted by many web browsers.  Due to poor sandboxing secuirty, specifically in 32bit browsers,  it was disontinued.

The old Acrobat extension used to work as an Adobe Acrobat PDF Maker plugin, which used to allow users to access a PDF via web browser and save it as Acrobat PDF directly from the browser.

The family of modern web browsers (64bit), however,   support the Adobe Acrobat extension but it works differently.

It will simply not allow to edit and reproduce a PDF direclty from the browser into an  Acrobat PDF.  You will be able to view a PDF directly in the browser but with an added option.  iOnly if the user clicks on the popup "Open in Acrobat" when the extension is enabled, then the document will open up natively in Acrobat or Reader .

There is an added benefit to this approach though. 

In the event that the browser's Enhanced Protected Mode fails to  prevent a URL from launching malicious code injections, the PDF will remain secured, and so will be your computer. There is a tighter integration of safety features and restrictions when Acrobat and Reader are used with  Protected Mode, Enhanced Security sandboxing, and/or Proteted View enabled.

This restrictive integrations are  not found even in the most secured web browsers available to date.

So we can look at it as a very smart fall-back plan.  And the more I read and learn about it,  the more I fall in love with the restrictive actions provided in these two products alone.

That said, YES you can install the Adobe Acrobat extension in MS Edge and not even worry about which browser is the default web browser anymore; with this extension enabled it allows the user to perform a single click to open a PDF from  a URL that is currently viewed in MS Edge  in Acrobat or Reader.

And this is the closest that you can get  to a 64bit Acrobat+Windows+web browser workflow in 2020.

See my slides to prove how the correct answer would've look like if this question was asked back in 2017 with the improvements that are available to us today:

More information from Adobe staff is given in this related Forums post:

How do I change from 32-bit to 64-bit?

It's funny reading posts from people who think that x64 in AARDC is ridiculous. But my experience is just like xochj and, Onesolo. To think that the "Correct answer" is really an answer at all, is mind boggling. That's a copout! "There is no way for Adobe to put this back so far as I know, FireFox and Chrome don't want it. There is a 64-bit control for IE which works in IE, but not Edge, because Microsoft don't allow add-ins"..., is as ridiculous as the idea NOT to build a x64 bit version. Windows 10 is forever "updating", and apps that are not "updating" as well, simply don't work right. This Acrobat Reader is almost useless in the x32 bit version when Windows 10, x64, updates. You simply cannot use it. It freezes into "Not Responding" whenever you open the "Tools" tab. NOT the EDGE, IE, Chrome, Firefox, version. Just the plain, Windows 10 x64 version.

So, you need to go back and find another "reason", because that "excuse" is NOT an answer.

There are quite a few folk using Reader on 64 bit systems these days, and I think if everyone was seeing this they would have mentioned it. So your real problem probably has a specific and very different cause. What do you mean by "problem loading" exactly?

64 vs 32 bit is not the reason you have no browser plug-in. FireFox and Chrome removed support for Adobe PDF plug-ins, both 32-bit and 64-bit. There is no way for Adobe to put this back so far as I know, FireFox and Chrome don't want it. There is a 64-bit control for IE which works in IE, but not Edge, because Microsoft don't allow add-ins.

There is only one advantage of 64-bit apps on Windows, so far as I can see. All the rest is marketing junk.

No. Use the 32-bit version.