As first reported by CNET News.com, Adobe Systems is on track to ship a major update of its Acrobat document management software by the end of the calendar year dubbed "Acrobat X". Acrobat, a suite of tools for authoring documents in Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF), is the lynchpin of Adobe's "intelligent document" platform strategy.

Adobe's intelligent document push consists of three main pillars: "intelligent" PDF documents, a universal client and XML powered Document Services. This approach enables documents to be integrated into business processes and extend beyond the firewall.

In an effort to prepare its customers for the upgrade, Adobe has liberated a treasure trove of product information. Consequently, developers and industry analysts have already accumulated a wealth of product information.

John Wiley & Sons, a publisher of technology-oriented books, is running parallel to the product's release schedule, and is currently accepting pre-orders for a book written by Acrobat guru Ted Padova called Acrobat "X" PDF Bible. Acrobat X PDF Bible will hit the shelves in February of 2005. McGraw-Hill Osborne Media also has upcoming titles listed on its Web site including How to Do Everything with Adobe Acrobat X.

For all those who simply cannot wait to read about it in hardcover, a solution brief is available for download on the Adobe Web site - in PDF.