This is not an informed answer, just one from someone trying to address the
same problem recently:
I've just installed ExpertPDF2 (recently made available as a free cover disk
on a PC magazine here in the UK) I was impressed by its ability to convert
Word documents into PDF which I can then read in Acrobat reader 5.0. It
effectively creates a new virtual printer, which generates pdf output from
any programme able to send output to a printer. I have quite a few
Powerpoint 2000 presentations with complex graphics and multiple slides to
create various effects, some designed for touch screen kiosk usage.
Although simple PP presentations were converted OK into PDF, complex ones
got converted OK but then caused a "Not responding" message in Acrobat
reader 5.0, or worse still, the file size actually increased many fold . eg
7Mb in PP2000 to 45Mb as a PDF. I'm hopeful that a little more
experimentation might identify the cause of these problems.
Nick Moyes
Derby Museum, England