I was attached to InDesign CS3 for a long time but had to install CS5 to test a content management system. The second thing that made me crazy (the first thing being the application frame) was the absence of a progress bar when exporting a PDF.
Okay, might be a feature for most people because you can continue the work on that or any other document while the PDF export is in progress.
But most of time I want to open the PDF in Acrobat or pass the PDF to another application after it's created. Now you have a zero kB PDF file until InDesign is finished with the export.
The following hint works in CS5, CS5.5, and CS6 as well:
Create a new blank text file with the file name DisableAsyncExports.txt and place that file in the InDesign application package itself (right-click on the application icon and select Show package content). Then go to the sub-directory Contents/MacOS and place the new file there.
After a restart of InDesign the progress-bars are back again, and you can tell immediately when the PDF is created.
[crarko adds: I suspect this is one of those things that will be undone by a software update. I would strongly suggest making a backup copy of the InDesign application file before making any changes, just in case. Out of curiosity, can someone using the cloud-based version of InDesign let us know if there is a progress bar or not?]
Mac OS X Hints
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20131112062400324