Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) is a Flash based ebook reader for the desktop computer. Along with reading EPUB formatted books, ADE can also read PDF files and both of these with or without DRM (Digital Rights Management) protection.

Adobe has been a great supporter of EPUB, they are also a member of the IDPF, helping to develop the book format itself. When they released their Digital Editions, it was the first ebook reader that could read EPUB books.

ADE is available for both Windows and Mac computers with Linux in development, and is available in several languages including, English, French and German. During installation you will be asked to authorise your computer, you do have the option of refusing, but any DRM encrypted ebooks you buy will not be transferable to any other computers or devices unless you do so.

The visual look of ADE is quite different to most computer software as it has a dark, brushed metal, grey interface. Personally I like the look, especially as it helps to emphasise the white pages, where the actual reading is done.

Reading your EPUB ebooks with Digital Editions

To add ebooks to the ADE library you can either use the add dialog, or just drag-and-drop onto the program. All your books are stored in the Library View and double clicking on a title opens it in the Reading View.

All the books I've tried so far havve displayed without any problems and with several different font sizes available, you can select a text size that's comfortable for you. Although the built in font style makes for a pleasant read, there's currently no option for changing to an alternate style. I think however, this will not be an issue for most people.

A couple of useful features of ADE include the ability for full-text search and more interestingly, multiple bookmarks; a great feature that'll be useful for anyone who likes making extensive notes on what they read.

Sony Reader (Touch, WiFi, Pocket, etc.)

Along with their desktop application, Adobe has worked closely with Sony to include ADE with their very popular eReaders; Sony WiFi, Pocket, Touch, PRS-350, 650, 505, etc.

Digital Editions comes pre-installed (some earlier releases of the 505 need a firmware update) on all the Sony Readers so you can just transfer your books directly from either the Sony software or your desktop version of Digital Editions.

Conclusion

This is a solid ebook reader with a pleasant interface that provides a good solution for reading both commercial and free EPUB eBooks, with or without DRM.

You may find some sites around the internet who will make an effort to point out the faults of Adobe Digital Editions and although it's certainly not perfect, Adobe have made many big improvements since the first release and I am sure there will be many more in the future.

You can download the latest version of Adobe Digital Editions from www.Adobe.com.