Adobe Systems Inc is planning to write a Java version of its Acrobat Reader, other Java plug-ins and embed Java classes inside PDF files, before year end, that will further Web- enable version 3.0 of its Acrobat online document sharing product which ships in August or September. Adobe said yesterday it is taking the product further down into the consumer market and is pinning the future success of Acrobat on its Web capabilities, backing its strategy by citing the six million users it claims, downloaded its free Acrobat Reader software. Adobe is also slashing the price of Acrobat from $595 to an expected street price under $200 for Acrobat 3.0 to be more competitive with products such as Netscape Navigator. Acrobat will be offered as a complete package and will include Exchange, Distiller, PDFWriter, the Capture plug-in and Catalogue, which were previously sold separately. The Java version of Reader is still mainly on the drawing board and is being made possible by Sun Microsystems Inc’s recent licensing of Adobe’s PostScript- based Bravo 2-D imaging model for Java (CI No 2,918). The Java version will provide a smaller system footprint and be a more simple product, Adobe says. Netscape Communications Corp has also licensed Bravo for use in Navigator. Adobe says the main Web enhancements in Acrobat 3.0 are the integrated viewing of PDF files directly within Web browsers that support Navigator Plug-in API or ActiveX controls; page-on-demand downloading so users can be reading files as they are being downloaded; better compression technology; and progressive rendering. Other new features include greater forms capability, capture technology and dynamic controls for PDF files, for example instead of just hypertext, links could be created just by moving a cursor into a certain area. The Adobe Reader 3.0 beta is out now. The Unix version will ship a few weeks later than Mac and Windows versions. Foreign language versions will be released in October or November. Volume pricing will be $88 for 100 copies and around $50 for thousands-user deals.