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Let me be the first to call bullshit. Adobe reader sucks, but old versions still run fine on XP, and Foxit reader reads pdf's super fast and is lightweight http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

Besides that, I can think of at least 3 open source pdf readers off the top of my head. Same thing with quicktime. There are a lot of other players that can play quicktime files. A standard isn't an implementation, and when multiple good implementations exist, you can't put down the standard because one of them suck.

Is it a question of time before a lightweight, free software pdf reader captures the windows userbase as well?

Another alternative is Foxit Reader

As always, not affiliated, just like it.

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

Just a quick plug for foxit reader...

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

It's amazing how slowly word is getting around, but you do not have to put up with Adobe's bullshit. This company makes a no-cost reader that absolutely blows Acrobat Reader away. It's lightweight, fast, stable and when you close the window, the process actually stops instead of just sitting in the background, screwing up your system.

First of all, Adobe acrobat (I assume thats what you mean since 95% of all corporate machines I have ever seen have Acrobat installed) is bloated and unnecessary for most users. Foxit is a lightweight pdf reader. Its free too.

You could look at some type of disk cloning setup such as norton ghost or something similar. This has many other advantages as well, but it isn't suited to some situations (numerous hardware configurations for one). But if I were you, heres what I would do:

I would resign my position immediately because I was asking for help with my job on slashdot.

I'd take links that don't work over PDF links anyday. You know, that sinking feeling when you just realised the link you clicked is not to another HTML page but to a 4MB PDF file, which then causes the browser to freeze and choke up trying to open it, and you can lose whatever is was you had in other tabs or windows when it crashes. Adobe Acrobat Reader has surely got to be one of the most annoying tech products for this reason alone - who ever thought making PDFs open in the browser was a good idea anyway??

Foxit and http://www.pdfdownload.org/ help a lot though.

I have an easier solution.

Start->Run->Control Panel->Add & Remove programs
Select "Adobe Acrobat Reader"
Click "Uninstall"
Download FoxIt Reader 2.0

There are no good reasons to run Adobe Acrobat, and plenty of good reasons *not* to.

With regards to the look of OpenOffice.org Impress presentations, they do tend to look quite bad with the default templates. (Maybe including some good-looking ones would be a nice thing to do for the future.)

However, you can download PowerPoint templates from Microsoft's site or even the program itself if you have it (even templates designed for PowerPoint 2007 if you use the Microsoft Office 2007 file format converter to convert to the older format) and import them into OpenOffice.org, then save them as templates. It's a little more work, but it works, and you get good-looking presentations. Of course, some people think it's icky to use stuff from MS, but it works. :)

One other thing I like about Impress is that you can export your presentation to a variety of formats, including PowerPoint, Flash, and PDF. That last one is the best for me--it even captures your slide transitions and everything. Put Adobe Reader (or FoxIt Reader--it works too) in Full Screen mode and nobody will know the difference. Plus you don't have to worry about having PowerPoint or Impress on your target computer, just a sufficiently recent version of Adobe Reader (version 6.0 worked for me, earlier ones might too). Or to virtually guarantee compatibility, download FoxIt Reader and place the executable on your flash drive or whatever (no need to install)--and then there's even less to worry about, at least if you're on Windows. But if you were thinking about using PowerPoint in the first place, you probably are. :)

I exported my Impress presentation as PDF the other week for a class and it worked great. Nobody knew the difference, although I'm sure some technically inclined people were curious when they saw me starting a PDF reader. (Not that I really needed to, since I'm lucky enough that my school actually includes OpenOffice.org standard on lab computers. But I just couldn't resist.)

May I politely suggest that you Fox it? Although this alternative does not stack up perfectly against Reader, it does everything I need from it.

I completely agree about Adobe reader. A post here a few days ago suggested Foxit Reader. I've been pretty happy with it, and it seems very stable.

Why does anyone still use Acrobat Reader anyway? Try downloading Foxit Reader instead - it's faster, smaller, and works just fine under Vista. I didn't have any driver issues with this Shuttle box, but then it's only a 3.6GHz toaster (sorry P4) anyway ;)

There is a free Acrobat Reader alternative called "Foxit", but alas, it is not open source. I gave it a try a few months ago and it was snappier than Acrobat Reader but it didn't play nice with Firefox. It looks like it's been updated since then, so YMMV.

if your using windows there are a lot of pdf readers out there.. one of them is foxitreader small and fast

Try this, you'll like it. Great piece of software.

Yes, but tripping might kill or seriously harm you. You may trip over the edge of a cliff, for instance. Very dangerous. Or you might go on a road trip and get killed in the accident that was caused by a drunk driver, which always happen on road trips. Or maybe you're tripping on LCD and accidently thought your friend was a giant tomato with great, white fangs and an appetitie for destruction, in which case you reached down for your bazooka - LSD people have these layin' around - and in the heat of the moment forgot to step a few feet away from your target, blowing both you and your friend up. Then you'd be sorry insteada safe. So the safest thing to do is; drop the shoes.

And install Foxit.

Acrobat reader is widely known to be a resource hog, but banning PDFs is short sighted and reactionary. It's like banning shoes because you tripped once.

Foxit. Windows and (now) Linux. Takes about 1/2 a second to open.

If you have a Mac, you have a slick one built in.

How 'bout Foxit?

Foxit pdf reader and editor ...
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/

For example, Foxit. This program is small, fast, and doesn't require installation.

Your complaints are about the Adobe's PDF reader, not the PDF format itself. MS is only proposing a standard, not presenting a reader.

FWIW, there are plenty of fast non-crappy PDF readers. For example, xpdf and foxit.

Not a Windows issue, per se, but the last few versions of Adobe's reader have given me nothing but hassle. Takes forever to load, hogs resources, holds up the system, causes Firefox to freeze, etc.

There's a much better (imho) free (as in beer) PDF reader available for Windows and Linux called Foxit Reader. It is far smaller and faster than the nasty, slow, bloatfest that Adobe offer.

If it is just reader, ditch Adobe and go with Foxit Reader which is a lot better than Adobe's version (and also free as in beer).

Or, a much better idea - scrap Acrobat, use a better PDF reader and load a PDF in second.

I can't believe that a company like Adobe can make such bilge like Acrobat Reader. Foxit looks literally the same, but done right!

Foxit reader for teh win!

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/

As bloated and intrusive adobe software is, I can't believe problems like this don't happen more often.

I couldn't find active links for one or two of them myself, but here's an updated list -- in some cases these aren't the original sites, which have disappeared, so obviously it's worth being extra careful with antivirus software... apologies for the mess of links; the filter doesn't like short lines...

1by1 (play MP3s), AriskKey (recover passwords), AutoRuns (enumerate startup tasks), BurnCDCC (burn ISO images), CD (basic CD player), CDex (rip CDs + convert MP3/WAV), Copier [0X Copy Machine] (scan + print), CWShredder (clean spyware), DComBob (tame DCOM), DirLister (make quick file lists), Discover (force windows onscreen), DupeLocater (find and clean), FileRecovery [PC Inspector] (undelete), Folder2ISO (use with BurnCDCC), FoxitReader (read PDFs), GUIPDFTK (split/join PDFs), HijackThis (find spyware), HJSplit (split/join files), Identify_Boards (identify hardware), KatMouse installer (due to MS drivers), LCISOCreator (make ISO image from CD), Leaktest (test firewall), Microsoft keygen (people lose things), MultiRes (change res + force refresh), Multi Timer (stopwatch), NoteTab Light (text editor), NTest (test monitor setup), OnTop (pin windows to foreground), Process Explorer (task manager), ProduKey (recover passwords), Registry Commander (virus cleanup), ResHacker (examine executables), Rootkit Revealer (just in case) ShootTheMessenger (turn service off), Shred by AnalogX (simple filer shredder), TedNPad (unicode text editor), TFT (dead pixel locator), UNPnP (tame SSDP), UPX (compress executables), UnitConverter (what it says), utorrent (basic torrent app), VCdControlTool (mount ISO images),

I don't know why people want to read PDFs in the browser in the first place. My windows browser loads Foxit to display PDFs and on Linux the browser loads Evince (the Gnome document viewer). PDFs are hard enough to navigate without having to deal with the limitations of plugins.

Like PDF/Acrobat ("Is that PDF file going to be interesting enough to be worth the chugging while Acrobat loads?")

That's why I uninstalled Adobe Reader in favor of Foxit Reader months ago. Foxit Reader is an application, and it doesn't try to install itself into Firefox as a Netscape plug-in. Firefox downloads the PDF, starts Foxit Reader, and continues to respond while Foxit Reader loads, even on my 5.5 year old PC with only 128 MB of RAM.

I stopped using Acrobat reader a long time ago. It's so frigging slow and it's a huge resource hog.

I use FoxItReader. It's super fast, the download is less than 1 meg. The only downside I've found is that it only works with Windows.

Re: Acrobat Reader.

I don't understand why people bother with AR anymore. Other PDF viewers like FoxIt Reader manage to do nostly the same in less than 1MB.

I've already started to give them the message by uninstalling Adobe reader and installing the FoxIt PDF Reader. It's a small download, doesn't come bundled with anything, doesn't ask you to update EVERY time you open it, and has no splash screen. It just opens a PDF and displays it - really, really fast. I'm surprised no one else has linked to it in these comments yet.

So now, with Foxit, PDF Creator, and GIMP, I'm now pretty much Adobe free, so I don't have to worry about these stupid bundled apps and constant updates. Any OS alternatives to Shockwave?

I've been using the free FoxIt Reader as my permanent replacement for the free Adobe Acrobat Reader on Windows. It owns. Here is a link: http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php It's very light, and is downloaded as one executable (zipped up, no crappy setup). It supports the highlight and copy for the "blacked out" text.

i hate the new acrobat reader. some claim it calls home to the mothership(Adobe) which i dont approve of either (spyware)...

Then you should try Foxit Reader. Apart from being free, light-weight and best for everyday use, it also has got a 'Fox' in its name. :)

If you're running Windows, there's Foxit Reader. It's a 1.5 MB download, uses less memory, and loads almost instantly. In about 2 years of use, I've only encountered a single PDF that it wouldn't open.

If you're not on Windows, there's xpdf, Evince, kpdf, gv, and probably a dozen others.

Give Foxit Reader a try (the download link is on the left). It's super fast, integrates with IE and Firefox and has ctrl-f search functionality. PCWorld rates it higher than Acrobat Reader. I've only ever had trouble with one PDF and unfortunately that's the PDF in the article - the password 'grail' isn't opening it.

download Foxit PDF Reader http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

It's much faster than Adobe Reader at opening a PDF file and being a self-executable, requires no installation

my computer hasn't seen this 10-minute-loading 16MB-big adobe reader since I've found the instantly-loaded 2.5MB foxit reader...

if any of this is really true it should be pretty embarassing for adobe. i would NEVER buy an acrobat product. the free acrobat reader is such a disaster on windows, especially in browsers, that buying an advanced version is like a joke to me.

for reading i use foxit: http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

for saving i make an html page and run it through some pdf generator online (i have to do that maybe twice a year for clients who will only take pdf invoices)

not to mention, isn't "Save As PDF..." built into like every other apple application, and can't pdfs be opened with apple's Preview?

For Windows, you might like Foxit PDF Reader. It's a 1MB program with no installer and does most of what Adobe's reader does, but doesn't suck so much.

The only problem is that with the last version I downloaded, to get the little ad bar to go away, you have to hit View -> Advertisement and then restart the program, and do this four times (the program has four little ads embedded into it).

Fully featured? I doubt it; there are loads of features in PDF. Much like MS Word, however, 90% of them aren't necessary for 90% of the population.

I don't use Windows; and even though I do use Creative Suite on my Mac, I generally use either Apple Preview, or KPDF (on Linux). For the times I need "full featured", I use Acrobat.

As to your question:

I don't use windows (as I said above), however, I've heard good things about this : http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

Why yes, yes I can.

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

For instance, my installation of Acrobat eats up a large chunk memory just for loading, and doesn't let it go after I navigate away from the page. The PDF Download extension helps, but it isn't perfect. Try the Foxit PDF Reader http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php It loads instantly.

I honestly don't know because I either haven't come across these "evil-bit" PDFs or haven't bothered to print them but have you tried Foxit PDF Reader (direct link to download)?

I second Microsoft Power Toys and add some more:

* AutoIt for simple automation tasks and creating small programs with graphical user interfaces

* Firefox, of course. Opera is also a good choice.

* Daemon Tools for mounting ISOs as virtual CD/DVD drives

* Trillian--AIM, ICQ, IRC, MSN, and Yahoo messenger client


* QuickTime Alternative

* RealPlayer Alternative

* IrfanView--small, free, fast image viewer



* SysInternals utilities--useful for admins

* Scanner--shows hard drive usage as stacked pie graph of files/folders

* 7-zip: similar to WinZip or WinRAR or StuffIt

* Foxit [PDF] Reader--a lite alternative to Adobe


Following ones aren't free but are very useful Windows-only programs:

* FinePrint--n up printing, universal print preview, etc.

* MaxiVisa--use a networked computer like a secondary display

* TextPad, though I opt for the open-source and FREE SciTE

Trillian for Instant Messaging

FoxIt! PDF Reader

for starters....

Besides that and games, I'm not sure what else I couldn't do without.

Google Desktop; Firefox and/or Opera; OpenOffice and/or AbiWord; and the requisite antispyware/antivirus apps, of course. Oh, and Google Desktop.
I also make heavy use of the following:

ClocX
Windows XP PowerToys (highly useful, especially TweakUI
Notify CD (bare-bones but elegant CD player)
ReadPlease (text-to-speech)
Foxit Reader (a much faster PDF reader than Adobe)
Trillian (multiple IM)
foobar2000 (audio player)

These are the first programs I install on every Windows machine I get my hands on. They serve a very simple purpose: to take care of all the Windows quirks and negate the need for any maintenance whatsoever:

1) AVG Antivirus: This is amazing, lightweight and updates almost every day (http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1);

2) CCleaner (Crap Cleaner): Removes all the "crap" that gets stored on Windows machines (unused and temp files) (http://www.ccleaner.com/)

3) Opera Browser: The best browser, IMHO. No need for for any any extensions, lightweight... it simply rocks. Oh, and mouse gestures with simplify you life! (http://opera.com/)

4) Foxit: Simple, no frills, lightweight pdf reader (http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php)

5) Executive Software Diskeeper: Automatically and seamlesly defrags the hard drive and optimizes access time to most used files.

BTW, all of the above programs are free, except Diskeeper.

For me, thats basically it. I personally have no need for a software firewall, but if you do many recommend (Free) Black ICE (http://www.digitalriver.com/dr/v2/ec_dynamic.main ?SP=1&PN=10&sid=26412) or ZoneAlarm.

And before anyone asks, using Opera (rather than IE) I have NEVER had any Spyware problems, so no need for Ad-aware or Spybot S & D.

Using the above, you'll be alright and won't run into any mayor problems using Windows. Just make sure that you don't install any programs that contain spyware (Google for spyware before installing. If it does contain spyware I sure you'll find a suitable replacement that doesn't).

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php