Alternative .pdf readers?

geepondy

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 15, 2001
Messages
4,896
Location
Massachusetts
It's bad enough windows updates itself so regularly, I really wonder if a program, simply to read .pdf files has to do same as Adobe reader does. Do you guys use an alternative .pdf reader? If so which one, I know there is a few.
 

lunchboxtheman

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Mar 18, 2010
Messages
29
Many people use Foxit, which is free and open source. Download here.
Sumatra is also free and open source, homepage here.

I've used both, and I like Foxit more. It's small (compared to Adobe reader) and fast. Hope that helps.
 

blasterman

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 17, 2008
Messages
1,802
Windows update can be shut-off in control panel. Although to Microsoft's credit, it's among the least intrusive apps that do this.

Adobe Updater however can be annoying as hell. You need an afternoon to install any of Adobe's slightly older suites and patch them up.
 

Tekno_Cowboy

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 2, 2008
Messages
1,680
Location
Minnesota
I use Okular, but I don't recall if that's been ported to windows yet.

I'm using Linux, so I tend to forget sometimes how much of a hassle windows updates can be :poke:
 

JCD

Enlightened
Joined
Apr 12, 2010
Messages
892
I use Preview to view PDF, JPG, etc. type files.
 

Illum

Flashaholic
Joined
Apr 29, 2006
Messages
13,053
Location
Central Florida, USA
foxit is much faster than adobe...which is an resource hog of its own:thumbsup:
plus the pdf opens as a tab in firebox, not strewn all over the place on the taskbar
 

blasterman

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 17, 2008
Messages
1,802
I'm using Linux, so I tend to forget sometimes how much of a hassle windows updates can be :poke:

When I was hopping around doing contract network admim work for the local banks not so many years ago we got about 2x as many critical security alerts for *Nix as Windows. Secondary patching however is far less a problem with *Nix because unlike Microsoft the Open Source crowd does know how to communicate, and when they patch, they typically get it right the first time.

For the record, Windows systems typically get hammered with user level security alerts that are typically negated by proper control of local administration rights. However, the Linux crowd are a flaming bunch of hypocrites in this respect because they push for /root restrictions on Linux while not comprehending that the corollary on Windows accomplishes much in the same.
 

JCD

Enlightened
Joined
Apr 12, 2010
Messages
892
Am I understanding correctly that Firefox and other Windows browsers need special extensions or third party applications in order to view a PDF inside the browser? :faint:

PDF is an open standard. Why isn't the support native? I guess I've always just taken it for granted that I can click on a PDF link and it opens up normally, like any other web page. Wow. I thought that capability was ubiquitous.
 

asdalton

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 12, 2002
Messages
1,722
Location
Northeast Oklahoma
foxit is much faster than adobe...which is an resource hog of its own:thumbsup:

The evolution of the Adobe Reader reminds me of what happened to AOL Instant Messenger -- a simple utility that transformed into Bloatasaurus rex over several version upgrades.
 

Lynx_Arc

Flashaholic
Joined
Oct 1, 2004
Messages
11,212
Location
Tulsa,OK
Am I understanding correctly that Firefox and other Windows browsers need special extensions or third party applications in order to view a PDF inside the browser? :faint:

PDF is an open standard. Why isn't the support native? I guess I've always just taken it for granted that I can click on a PDF link and it opens up normally, like any other web page. Wow. I thought that capability was ubiquitous.

most file formats need a plugin to incorporate them into webpages as browsers are not designed to handle their file formats.
 

1138

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jun 19, 2009
Messages
85
I use a combination of Sumatra PDF and Foxit since they're both good at different tasks.

I prefer Foxit over Adobe or Sumatra as a normal PDF reader but the reason I use Sumatra PDF as well is because I make PDFs in LaTeX with TeXnicCenter. The latest Sumatra integrates with TeXnicCenter and automatically refreshes the PDF whenever you change the document. With Foxit, you have to manually close the document and re-open it to see your changes. If I'm also viewing other papers at the same time, I can't just close Foxit, I have to close the particular tab of the document I'm working on, switch back to TeXnicCenter and press F5 to make it reload the document. Pain in the ***.

Foxit's a good replacement for Adobe Reader, but because it also has a lot of the same interactive functionality as Adobe, it is also vulnerable to the some of the same recent exploits as Adobe. To their credit, I believe Foxit has fixed these. Still, if you're switching to it for improved security, just realize that no software is invulnerable to exploits.

I'm using Linux, so I tend to forget sometimes how much of a hassle windows updates can be :poke:

Have you ever used Gentoo? It was the first Linux I tried and I couldn't stand that updates could take hours or even days because it has to compile everything.

However, the Linux crowd are a flaming bunch of hypocrites in this respect because they push for /root restrictions on Linux while not comprehending that the corollary on Windows accomplishes much in the same.

Problem is that a lot of Windows software was designed with the assumption that the user is always running with administrator privileges, which means that it was inconvenient at best to run as a limited user. It's getting better; the only software I have that needs admin rights is my DVD burning application. I'd love to have a su / sudo in Windows though.

PDF is an open standard. Why isn't the support native? I guess I've always just taken it for granted that I can click on a PDF link and it opens up normally, like any other web page. Wow. I thought that capability was ubiquitous.

I prefer my own choice for a PDF viewer, not what the OS or browser decided for me. I imagine that on Macs the browser hooks into Preview to show PDFs. Since Windows doesn't come with Preview, you just need to install other software that the browser can hook into, so it ends up working in a similar manner. There's also the issue of whether Adobe would try to sue Microsoft if they included a PDF viewer for abuse of monopoly, in the same way that Netscape did in response to Internet Explorer.
 
Last edited:

JCD

Enlightened
Joined
Apr 12, 2010
Messages
892
I prefer my own choice for a PDF viewer, not what the OS or browser decided for me.

I have many PDF viewers available to choose from. Conveniently, the native one is the one I prefer (after trying out a few).
 

Search

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 21, 2008
Messages
1,779
Location
West Tn
Adobe Reader is a resource hog full or massive security holes.

Foxit is going to be one of the best choices, for your patience and your security.
 
Top