So what's the consensus: update to adode reader 9.4.4?

Question

Good idea? There's so much skepticism about the company, I'm being cautious…

Answer 1

Run the update. It will be patched against the latest whatever, until, in short time, you'll just have to run another update when the latest critical vulnerabiity is announced.
I only use Reader occasionally for printing. Most PDFs will open in Preview just fine. My default PDF app is Preview. The new Reader 10 is supposed to be more secure. Have no idea if this is really so. Not sure if it will run on 10.5, but you could look into it.
This is from another board:
The best way to secure Reader is to uninstall it. This dramatically reduces the likelihood with which it can be exploited. If that's impractical, I recommend setting the following preferences under Adobe Reader --> Preferences:
    •    JavaScript: uncheck "Enable Acrobat JavaScript" and uncheck "Enable menu items JavaScript." Put a check mark next to "Enable global object security policy."
    •    Multimedia Trust (legacy): click the radio button for "Trusted documents" and uncheck "Allow multimedia operations." Then click the radio button for "Other Documents" and again uncheck "Allow multimedia operations."
    •    Security (Enhanced): check "Enable Enhanced Security."
    •    Trust Manager: uncheck "Allow opening of non-PDF file attachments with external applications." Next, under "Internet Access from PDF files outside the web browser" click the button labeled "Change Settings," then select "Block all web sites" and click OK.
    •    Finally, under "Identity," feel free to lie (although you can't change your login name).
When you're done, click OK, quit Adobe Reader, and lock its preference file.