New: Help keep this site independent with few ads by buying a Gizmo Cap or T-shirt or by Donating
Hot: Get  free personalized security suggestions from Gizmo's Security Wizard
Help: Know your freeware? Then suggest a hot product or become a reviewer or moderator for Gizmos

 

Best Free Non-Adobe PDF Reader

In a Hurry?
  Go straight to the Quick Selection Guide
Introduction
Sick to death of Adobe's slow, bloated PDF Reader? If so, then consider one of the excellent free third party viewers that are available.
Discussion

PDF Exchange ViewerPDF-XChange Viewer

Like Foxit, it allows PDF annotation; but in this case, it thankfully leaves the annotated copy free of validation marks. It also allows you to fill and save Adobe PDF forms, extract text and images, magnify text and export PDF pages or documents to BMP, JPEG, TIFF, PNG formats and has excellent image/text clarity. The only downside is the program size; at 15.91 MB. However, there is a portable version available that is only 6.18MB.

 

Foxit ReaderFoxit Reader

It's small, loads in a flash, supports bookmarks, has search capability, offers many extra features and even allows you to annotate PDF files. On top of that, it can also print PDFs. On the downside, I find the PDFs look less clear on my PC screen than with PDF-XChange; and the annotation feature leaves validation marks which can only be removed by buying the full version of the reader. One thing of which you might want to be careful of, is that during the installation, if you un-check or check to install the firefox plugin, the start menu shortcut, desktop shortcut, and quick launch shortcut boxes are automatically checked.

We have been advised via this link here  that the latest version of Foxit includes potentially unwanted items which will install unless you read the instructions carefully and choose not to accept them. The msi download does not contain these potentially unwanted items at this time (I have installed the msi version and verified this myself. grf, Site Moderator, 01/July/2010).

 

Cool PDF ReaderSmallest of all is Cool PDF reader.

It can view, print, and convert PDF files to TXT, BMP, JPG, GIF, PNG, WMF, EMF, EPS, and the Standard installer is only a 896KB download!  What I didn't like about Cool PDF Reader is that I got a few error messages while trying to open some of my PDF files, but the other ones I tried worked fine. Another thing that bothered me is that page contents do not get updated while the scroll bar is dragged, and loading pages can sometimes get glitchy. All in all, this is a slim reader that does what Adobe Reader does with alot less resources.

 

Perfect PDF ReaderIn the heavyweight category we have Perfect PDF Reader 5.

The download size weighs in at a whopping 22MB. If the size doesn't scare you off, Perfect PDF Reader has some unique features worth looking at.

Sumatra PDF ReaderIt can export PDF's as plain text or export by the page as images (BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, Metafile) with different resolutions. Other features include the ability to extract text and images, fill, save, and print PDF forms, and apply digital signatures and timestamps. Overall, this is a a great PDF reader that lacks some features like PDF annotation and is a large download.

 

Sumatra PDF Viewer

The interface is a little crude and no, it hasn't got the features or image clarity of PDF-XChange; but 99.9% of the time, all most folks want from a PDF reader is to be able to read PDFs. And that's what Sumatra does.

Related Products and Links
Quick Selection Guide

PDF-XChange Viewer    Rating of 9 of 10  Gizmo's Top Pick

Pros   Loads reasonably fast, can print PDFs, allows basic annotation without watermaking, superior text clarity, allows you to fill and save Adobe PDF forms, extract text and images, magnify text, and export PDF pages or documents to BMP, JPEG, TIFF, PNG formats.
Cons   Extra features come at cost of a big download, not as fast loading as Foxit
Developer Home Page   http://www.docu-track.com/home
Download link   http://www.docu-track.com/downloads/users/
File Size   13MB   Version2.053  License Type Restricted Freeware (full commercial version available)   Installation Requirements Windows 2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista
Portable version available   Portable version available (6.18MB)
Info   Last Update: 20 January, 2010

Foxit Reader Free    Rating 8 of 10 

Pros   Stable,fast,can print PDFs as well read, allows PDF annotation.
Cons   PDF's look slightly blury. Have to pay to remove annotation watermarks.
Developer Home Page   http://www.foxitsoftware.com/
Download link   http://www.foxitsoftware.com/downloads/
File Size   6.73MB   Version4.0  License Type Restricted Freeware (full commercial version available)   Installation Requirements Windows 2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista, Linux (Foxit Reader 1.1 for Desktop Linux)
Info   Last Update: 26 November, 2009

Cool PDF Reader    Rating 6 of 10

Pros   Loads the fastest. Can convert PDF's to TXT, BMP, JPG, GIF, PNG, WMF, EMF, and  EPS. Very small download.
Cons   The scroll bar does not update the contents of the PDF while you drag it. Not alot of features compared to PDF-XChange. Annoying "Convert PDF to EXE" ad.
Developer Home Page   http://www.pdf2exe.com/index.html
Download link   http://www.pdf2exe.com/reader.html
File Size    896.18KB   Version3.0.0.182   License Type Unrestricted Freeware   Installation Requirements Windows 2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista/Win7
Portable version available   Portable version available (650KB)
Info   Last Update: N/A

Perfect PDF Reader 5    Rating 6 of 10

Pros   Exports PDF's as plain text or export by the page as images (BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, Metafile) with different resolutions. Can Extract text and images, fill, save, and print PDF forms, and apply digital signatures and timestamps.
Cons   Very large download(22MB). Fair image quaility. Does not not support PDF annotation.
Developer Home Page   http://www.soft-xpansion.com/
Download link   http://www.soft-xpansion.com/index.php?p=/pdftech/pdfqr/
File Size   22.44MB   Version 5.0.4   License TypeUnrestricted Freeware   Installation Requirements Windows 2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista
Info   Last Update: 1 April, 2008

Sumatra PDF Viewer    Rating 5 of 10

Pros   Small, fast, source code available.
Cons   Few features - it's basically just a viewer, image quality is not the best.
Developer Home Page   http://blog.kowalczyk.info/software/sumatrapdf/index.html
Download link   http://blog.kowalczyk.info/software/sumatrapdf/download.html
File Size   1.66MB   Version 1.1   License Type Unrestricted Freeware   Installation Requirements Windows 2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista
Portable version available   Portable version available
Info   Last Update: 19 July, 2009
Contact Details:

This software category is maintained by volunteer editor Desi

 

Share/Save
4.72941
Average: 4.7 (85 votes)
Your rating: None

Comments

by spoli (not verified) on Sat, 08/28/2010 - 00:48  (#56858)

I used Foxit Reader for a long time and I have been happy with it until about few months ago when I noticed some display problems. The symptoms are always the same: pages otherwise displayed correctly in other PDF readers, are displayed incompletely or not displayed at all (white pages or, even worse, empty gray frames). Initially, I assumed that the problem only happens only with certain files (usually large files with lots of graphics). The reality is that Foxit fails to display pages mostly when the whole system is heavily loaded (for example, when Firefox, which is a memory hog, is running and multiple windows or tabs are active). This does not have anything to do with the lack of memory (I have 4GB of RAM, and using anywhere between 0.7 to 1.2GB). Nor it has problems with graphical resources or desktop heap space (that I increased anyway). However, it seems to be something else that fixes as soon as I reboot the system; then Foxit Reader works just fine for about one to three days, then I starts failing again more and more often. Closing programs or running memory optimizers seems to help briefly (few hours maybe) but then the problem returns. Other programs seem to run fine.

I have a PC equipped with an Intel Quad Core CPU at 2.4 GHz, 4GB RAM, 2x1TB HDD, Nvidia 8600 GT (256MB), dual monitor (one in Portrait mode, one in Landscape mode) and Windows XP Pro SP3. Not a gamer system - mostly office work.

Did anybody experience similar problems? Maybe using other programs as well. I need some clues...

Thanks

by Desi on Sat, 08/28/2010 - 05:37  (#56871)

Hi Spoli. Are you using the install version or the zip version of Foxit, and which version number is it? I can't reproduce your PC setup, but I can see if I can reproduce the problem on my Win XP Pro SP3 machine.

by Racharan (not verified) on Wed, 08/25/2010 - 17:15  (#56704)

Unfortunately, none of the viewers presented here have the same text clarity and readability as the original Adobe Acrobat Reader.

I don't see much of a point in changing from Adobe, from that basic and vital starting point.

If there is an alternative to Adobe Reader which can produce the same text quality and readability, let's hear about it, I'll be the first one to install...

by Desi on Wed, 08/25/2010 - 17:39  (#56708)

Hi Racharan. I agree there are features Adobe has that others are lacking, but those features come at the price of large downloads and disk space usage. I'm grateful to the developers of freeware for giving us choices so we can all make our own decisions about the compromises that best suit our individual requirements. Perhaps you might like to try Nitro for text clarity and readability? http://www.nitroreader.com/download/ It is only a 23MB download compared with Adobe's 53MB download, and comes in 64bit as well as 32bit versions.

by westman (not verified) on Wed, 08/25/2010 - 00:10  (#56660)

PDFill has printer driver that works great
PDF Xchange viewer is best in my opinion.
So use both to have the complete functionality most people need

by valten (not verified) on Sun, 08/08/2010 - 16:19  (#55633)

+1 for the unwanted installation of stuff by foxit

i am going to switch to another prog, bye bye foxit

by Tejak (not verified) on Fri, 08/13/2010 - 17:37  (#55963)

Yes, with the installer 4.1, there's no option to opt-out of the Ask toolbar when installing Foxit. There's a check box though to not to accept the terms and conditions of Ask toolbar, that doesn't stop it from installing.
Good-bye Foxit !!

I'm going to get PDF-Xchange :)

by Anupam on Sun, 08/08/2010 - 16:44  (#55635)

It seems that Foxit have made the installation tricky, because of which the Ask Toolbar still gets installed despite user opting out of it. This article explains how they trick the users, and how to avoid it. Shared by 26Dolphins in the forum on this thread :

http://www.techsupportalert.com/freeware-forum/freeware-installation-and...

Here is the link to the article :

http://www.ghacks.net/2010/06/30/foxit-reader-4-installation-read-carefu...

by Desi on Sun, 08/08/2010 - 19:14  (#55643)

I have found the FoxitReader 4.1 zip file to be okay. It is a small download (4.96MB) which unpacks Foxit.exe
Foxit.exe is 9931KB and runs quite happily without installing anything at all on my computers (I've tried it on XP 32bit and Vista 64bit). I am able to add highlighting, comments, clouds, shapes etc. to pdf documents without the evaluation marks the older versions used to leave. I just found that before it would let me use the typewriter I had to download the lex file (Spell Checker) into the same folder where foxit resides, but this was only a 239KB download.
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/addons.php
Select the second option FoxitReader 4.1(zip)

by Anupam on Sun, 08/08/2010 - 19:38  (#55646)

Yes, the zip file is clean.

by WizWaz on Wed, 08/04/2010 - 21:29  (#55465)

A new free PDF reader, SlimPDF Reader is out.Check it out!
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Office-tools/PDF/Slim-PDF-Reader.shtml

by Desi on Thu, 08/05/2010 - 04:56  (#55477)

Thanks WizWaz - I'll check it out.

by dddd (not verified) on Wed, 08/04/2010 - 12:12  (#55440)

foxit reader pro is free now! very good!

by Desi on Wed, 08/04/2010 - 13:50  (#55447)

I'm not sure whether this is the Pro version that is now free, but I also discovered that the latest Foxit Reader has loads of features that work without leaving the evaluation marks on altered pages. Very impressive for a very small download. Here is the link:
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/addons.php

by Anupam on Wed, 08/04/2010 - 13:55  (#55448)

Thanks Desi, for the link. Was there a pro version of the Foxit Reader before? I don't remember. I haven't been using Foxit since long now. I use PdfXchange Viewer instead. I find it better.

Also, users have been reporting that .msi version of Foxit which came without the Ask Toolbar is no longer available. Also, in the exe setup, even if you choose not to install Ask Toolbar during installation, the toolbar still gets installed. That is not a good thing.
The zip version seems to be free of the toolbar though.

by Gabrielw22 on Wed, 08/04/2010 - 21:53  (#55466)

When you get to the ask toolbar you can hit decline and it will still continue with the installation.

by Anupam on Thu, 08/05/2010 - 03:31  (#55474)

I know this. I have said in my post, that users are reporting, that even if you decline the Ask Toolbar, the toolbar still gets installed.

by Anupam on Wed, 08/04/2010 - 13:04  (#55442)

Where did you know about this information? Any links to share about this?

by dddd (not verified) on Fri, 08/06/2010 - 14:37  (#55539)

The pro pack is free now when you use foxit 4.0 or 4.1.

by dddd (not verified) on Fri, 08/06/2010 - 14:40  (#55540)

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/support/showfaq_technical.htm

2.Is Foxit Reader free?
Yes. Foxit Reader is free software. Moreover, since version 4.0, advanced features have been included in this free Reader. You can now freely use those pro features without additional licensing.

by dddd (not verified) on Fri, 08/06/2010 - 14:52  (#55542)

this means when you annotate your PDF file it will not leave validation marks on this file.
And it has an advantage over PDF Xchange Viewer that you can edit your bookmarks without leaving watermarks on your pdf.

by Anupam on Fri, 08/06/2010 - 14:45  (#55541)

Thanks a lot for sharing the information. Much appreciated :). Its helpful.
Sorry, but I had to remove the link to Chinese site as we do not allow links to non-English pages.

by ChuckT (not verified) on Tue, 07/13/2010 - 14:43  (#54202)

What do I do to open/read PDF files that I download, or attempt to download, which won't (apparently) let me use a reader other than Adobe Reader?

Thanks very much for your help! Chuck

by Desi on Wed, 08/04/2010 - 14:15  (#55451)

Hi Chuck. I've been testing dozens of pdf readers in the last few days, and have not yet found one that will open certain pdf files, such as the income tax statements sent out by our Revenue Services. (I believe these may have been created by Adobe LiveCycle Designer). The nearest I have found so far is Nitro. According to their forums, they are aware of this problem and are working on a fix, but even this pdf reader can't yet read these files. If anybody else knows which pdf reader will open these pdfs I'll be glad to hear of it.

by foobar (not verified) on Sat, 07/10/2010 - 13:56  (#54050)

I'm a civil engineer, and recommend STDU Viewer. I've tried Foxit, Adobe Reader and Sumatra, but they cannot compare.

If you're reading scientific pdfs, give STDU Viewer a try!

by Anupam on Sat, 07/10/2010 - 14:03  (#54051)

What are the advantages or unique features of Stdu Viewer, which give it an edge over other pdf readers? Share please

by Desi on Mon, 08/02/2010 - 18:42  (#55367)

The only unique feature I have found is that STDU Viewer is able to read file formats other than just .pdf so you could use the same viewer to open .tiff or .jpg files. But you do not have as many tools available as with other viewers of the same size. It installs global hooks every time this program is opened on my computer.

by Anupam on Mon, 08/02/2010 - 18:49  (#55368)

Thanks for the reply :).

by h2o (not verified) on Tue, 07/06/2010 - 09:09  (#53836)

Just tried STDU viewer.
It is unable to change the background color of the PDF file while reading.
For me,it is important that the background color can be changed to another color instead of the default snow white.

by Deepak Malik (not verified) on Fri, 07/02/2010 - 19:43  (#53644)

I recently found a very good and light PDF viewer - evince.

It is one of the main document viewer in linux but also work on xp.
try it.

by Anupam on Wed, 06/30/2010 - 14:57  (#53522)
by HeWhoRocks on Wed, 06/30/2010 - 18:38  (#53530)

Thanks for the heads up Anupam. Reminds me of my recent Ask toolbar experience. These people are getting very sneaky and this kind of thing is just dishonest imo.

by Anonymous705j (not verified) on Sat, 07/03/2010 - 04:30  (#53673)

There is a portable version of Foxit reader which doesn't attempt to install any junkware.

by Anupam on Sat, 07/03/2010 - 04:34  (#53674)

Thanks. The MSI installer is also clean.

by mistaecko (not verified) on Thu, 08/19/2010 - 12:04  (#56350)

The MSI installer has been removed from the Foxit website. The portable version (zipped standalone executable without installer) is still available via the 'More Download' link.

Otherwise use the standard installer and read and click carefully ;) (watch out for the 'decline' button)

by Shh (not verified) on Mon, 08/23/2010 - 05:53  (#56545)

Thanks mistaecko, once I found the "more download" link (I kept looking through the list, instead of the links next to each list item, oops), I extracted the reader to win7's x86 program files directory, then made a shortcut. I probably would have fallen for the sneaky "accept" click had I not read this article and comments. Cheers!

by Anonymous on Tue, 06/29/2010 - 19:21  (#53450)

PDF-XChange Viewer is IMO the best "copy" of Adobe Reader ever, and it seems to be the only one that comes in a 64bit version too. A++++

by Anonymous on Tue, 06/29/2010 - 05:10  (#53416)

Just wanted to say thanks for your compilation. I have used a few of the programs you covered and your summaries are great.

by Anonymous on Mon, 06/28/2010 - 23:42  (#53407)

using sumatra long time ago and no complains...
its just TOO fast, i love it.

by Anonymous on Mon, 06/28/2010 - 04:35  (#53342)

Have to dump Nitro for PDF-XChange... Nitro fails too often to display pdfs, usually when zooming or page tabing (using win7)

by Anonymous on Tue, 06/08/2010 - 20:21  (#51656)

foxit is no.1 then nitro

by Anonymous on Sun, 06/20/2010 - 07:59  (#52507)

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/7054/48609913.jpg
Nitro is STILL in BETA!
Unstable in many Systems!

by Anonymous on Mon, 06/07/2010 - 12:08  (#51548)

Adobe probs again, incl flash.

'Adobe warns over unpatched PDF peril'

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/06/07/adobe_0day/
http://www.adobe.com/support/security/advisories/apsa10-01.html

by Anupam on Mon, 06/07/2010 - 13:36  (#51554)

Thanks for this update. I too saw the news but have yet to read it in full. Adobe Reader, and the Flash Player are constantly having some kind of security issues. There are good alternatives to the Adobe Reader presently. Now only if someone could come up with Flash alternative. Then our lives will be much safer on the internet.

by Anonymous on Tue, 06/08/2010 - 21:09  (#51661)

if only! flash is a complete nightmare!
apart from html5 (which doesn't quite 'replace' flash) is there anything else out there that comes close? (apart from silverlight!)

by Anupam on Wed, 06/09/2010 - 05:48  (#51696)

I am afraid there isn't :D, we will have to live with Flash :S.

by Anonymous on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 19:06  (#50910)

Is there any downside to the portable version of PDF-XChange Viewer?

by Anonymous on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 16:22  (#50897)

I'm gonna stay with PDF-xchange simply b/c it is a smaller download and is the bomb!

by Drongo on Sun, 05/30/2010 - 06:49  (#50599)

Nitro PDF Reader seems pretty good, but I'll stick with PDF X-Change Viewer because:
1, No "ribbon" interface;
2, Lower resource usage (about half as much as Nitro according to Sysinternals Process Explorer);
3, Smaller;
4, It looks like the sales crew from Nitro has started piling on the posts much like the Puran crowd did in the disk defragmenter section.
"Lack of browser integration"...browser integration or lack thereof is an option in most if not all PDF readers so that is not an issue.
Regarding the option to print pdf's without having to install a separate PDF printer, so what? the Nitro setup program installs a pdf printer just like Bullzip or PDF Creator etc, they just include it in the same download.

by Jojoyee on Tue, 06/01/2010 - 13:19  (#50794)

See also this thread in the Forum.

by Anonymous on Tue, 06/01/2010 - 11:54  (#50786)

I just tried Nitro too. I am going to stick with PDF X-Change also. My reason is that the Nitro viewer did not display properly. I tried it with 3 PDFs. 2 simple ones (OK) and a ebook I have. It did not display sections of the ebook!! Just blank boxes in sections. So, how can I depend on Nitro if I did not know the PDF beforehand and didn't know that I was missing data in my PDF?

PDF X-Change displays fine.

by DocFallingApart on Sun, 05/30/2010 - 02:54  (#50590)

Sorry about the last post. I don't know why it lost all the formating and smashed all the paragraphs together. I'll check the FAQ to see if can find a solution for it, but if someone knows what I'm doing wrong please let me know. Thanks.

by DocFallingApart on Sun, 05/30/2010 - 02:51  (#50589)

Nitro PDF Reader is without question the new king of PDF Readers! With PDF creator/printer included, and editing tools that all the other readers want $$ for it's a winner hands down. Full 64 bit support is great even if the PDF printer is the only part that is native 64 bit. Also the PDF printer/creator is the best I've seen for available options other then the very expensive Adobe PDF Distiller that you only get with Adobe Pro.

I was a diehard Foxit PDF Reader user. I even purchased a Pro license from Foxit so I could use it's editing features. Now Foxit is off my PC because I get the editing for free with Nitro, and Nitro does it better to boot.

Also you have to check out Windows Explorer Preview after you install Nitro PDF Reader. You can browse though pages or see all the pages in the Explorer Preview window. It's an incredible feature that makes managing a large number of PDF documents a total snap.

As for browser support, why would you even want it? All you get is the PDF open in window with most of your PDF tools missing. With every reader I disable disable in the browser and tell whatever web browser I'm using you open PDF links with the full reader. Then when you click a PDF link the full reader will automaticly open up and display the PDF. From there you can do whatever you want with the PDF file. Maybe it's a slow Internet connection thing but I don't understand why anyone would want their PDF doc to open in the browser. I hate it and go out of my way to disable it with every PDF reader I have used. If Nitro doesn't have browser intergration I think it's great and another selling point for using it.

by Anonymous on Sat, 05/29/2010 - 16:42  (#50563)

STDU Viewer is the best free PDF reader. We can see many documents in just one window, and it's very small also.

by Anonymous on Wed, 05/26/2010 - 16:34  (#50365)

The new Nitro PDF Reader has been killed as a PDF-XChange Killer:
http://www.nitroreader.com/

by Anonymous on Thu, 05/27/2010 - 05:34  (#50418)

I agree, this reader is a LOT faster for reading e-magazines and HQ PDF files. Also looks VERY professional with ribbon GUI. PDF-Xchange it was my preferred pdf tool for quite a bit of time, even before it was recommended on this website as top pick.
I used PDF-Xchange and Bullzip PDF printer, but now Nitro does all of this in one single package. No more ghostscript ... Highly recommended Nitro PDF Reader Free.

Regards,
Ivan K. - GeekTech Solutions

by Anonymous on Sun, 05/09/2010 - 19:34  (#49421)

I am very satisfied with the free and fast foxit PDF Reader.
.. expect of the ads in the free version, which seemed to be usal:
http://www.webutation.org/en/review/foxitsoftware.com

I had the Adobe Reader before and have to say especially the loadtime to quickview a pdf is massive overkill.

Thank you for your list of pdf reader!

by Anonymous on Tue, 05/11/2010 - 23:13  (#49592)

Glad you are enjoying it :) Keep in mind PDF-xchange has no ads!

by Anonymous on Fri, 04/30/2010 - 14:17  (#48818)

Does anyone know if PDF-Xchange is more secure than adobe or foxit. I keep reading about these pdf exploits?

by Anonymous on Fri, 04/30/2010 - 22:19  (#48851)

I wouldn't say it's more secure. No PDF program is safe and secure. It's just that PDF programs other than Adobe and Foxit are not exploited on a large scale like the two big ones are! So I would use one of the lesser well known PDF programs :)

by mehman on Sat, 04/24/2010 - 10:56  (#48344)

I am facing a problem while using PDF-Xchange Viewer on my Win7 64 bit laptop.

The program is using over 100 MB of memory while running. Is it normal or have I set some wrong settings.

by Anonymous on Sun, 04/25/2010 - 20:55  (#48412)

Open up PDF-Xchange and click on Edit. Then go to preferences, then performance. From this tab you can take PDF-Xchange off of automatic and set it at a certain percentage point of memory you won't it to use. :)

by rik on Sat, 04/24/2010 - 11:40  (#48348)

Opening two fairly small PDFs in PDF-Xchange viewer under Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit requires 70 MB on my desktop PC. I can easily imagine a more complex PDF taking memory over 100 MB. By way of comparison, Firefox on my PC consumes 150 MB when doing nothing, but this is not a concern as I have 4 GB of RAM. It doesn't pay to be too concerned about 'spot' figures for RAM usage, or working set, as it is often referred to. If a particular process working set continually increases, suggesting a memory leak, or very large numbers of page faults occur, suggesting too little physical RAM, then is the time to worry.

Rik - Category Editor, Best Free Windows 7 / Vista 64 bit Software

by Anonymous on Fri, 05/07/2010 - 21:00  (#49303)

However this IS a problem on older systems or on a netbook. It can even be a problem on a newer system if you commonly run a lot of applications at the same time.

by Anonymous on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 03:41  (#48006)

I just tried to download PDFXVwer V2-050both the msi and the exe installers from the site you point to. I got a page with the message: "Not Found;The requested URL /f9bffe7798354d5ccfb7a3d7a8c9e55d was not found on this server. ". I went over to Download.com and was able to pull the zip file. The portable file seemed to dload OK though.

by Anonymous on Thu, 04/01/2010 - 00:48  (#46643)

Foxit Reader is not very secure:
http://blog.didierstevens.com/2010/03/29/escape-from-pdf/

Sumatra, PDF-XChange Viewer, or even Adobe Reader are better at security

Ref:
http://threatpost.com/en_us/blogs/hacker-finds-way-exploit-pdf-files-wit...

by Anonymous on Sat, 04/03/2010 - 18:27  (#46883)
by Anonymous on Wed, 02/24/2010 - 02:09  (#44321)

As a former Foxit user, my hands down favorite for the past year and a half is PDF-Xchange. I don't find it any slower than Foxit (even on old PIIIs), love the annotation tools, and don't have the on-screen and print rendering problems I've had with Adobe or Foxit. It will also detect and resave PDFs with errors, which has fixed some PDFs Adobe didn't like. Use it at home, use it at work even on A1/A0 Plotters. The size can be pared down by deleting unused languages, and the EXE can be compressed to at least 50% the size by using UPX. Memory usage may appear high, but it is simply caching pages so it won't re-render them if you scroll back. This is configurable in options. I also enjoy the variety of keyboard shortcuts (such as F11 to hide toolbars). A downside to PDF-X is the toolbars by default are a mess, and give it a cluttered appearance. The space wasting "upgrade" ad can be reduced by editing the exe with a resource editor.

I keep Foxit around for one very useful reason. It can add bookmarks to PDFs for free. Between the dozens of free pdf printers, PDFTK (builder) to split and merge PDFs, PDF-X to annotate, and Foxit to add bookmarks, there's a lot of free PDF work that can be done for free, for commercial use.

For web browsing personally I do not want PDFs to open automatically in the browser. I prefer it to launch in the separate viewer window, as I can maximize it easier. As well, given that recently Adobe Reader is a major source of security flaws, I do not want my PDF viewer launching unsolicited in the web browser. As well, for all viewers, Javascript should be disabled.

From the terrible installer, to the unexplained waste of 200MB of hard drive space, to the security exploits, to the Explorer plug-in bogging down the computer, to sneaking on garbage browser toolbars, any of these options are winners compared to Adobe reader.

by Anonymous on Fri, 02/19/2010 - 06:29  (#43937)

Here is another with an impressive list of features

Nuance Free PDF Reader

http://www.nuance.com/imaging/products/pdf-reader.asp

Moderator's Comment:Thanks for your contribution. Feature list removed as people can check this website for themselves :)

by catwhowalksalone on Mon, 02/15/2010 - 18:42  (#43689)

By the way, thanks for researching and writing this article. I have used all the programs you recommended and feel you did a very good job of summarizing the pros and cons of each. Another big thank you for enabling comments so that we could all share our experiences and comments. Altogether an excellent and useful article.

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.