Slashdot Mirror

I have used Foxit reader for PDFs for some time now. It's < 1MB in size and doesn't require an install (or at least didn't if you downloaded the zip). I have found it to be pretty good, loads so fast it's unbelievable. There is also a pro version which you can pay for which gives you some limited editing capability. Here is a link

I have removed Adobe Acrobat reader from my systems. In it's place, I use Foxit Reader (http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php) for reading PDF files. It's a lot faster to load, and I have yet to come across a PDF it can't read.

For creating PDF files, I use PDFCreator (http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator). It works like Adobe Distiller used to, you create your PDF files by printing to PDFCreator.

I agree about Adobe bloat.Here is the link to foxit -http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php-IMO ,A MUCH better reader than Adobe.Fast loading,Non Bloated,Free,And isn't a resource piggy.Great little program.Until I found it like you I looked at PDF as a landmine to be avoided.Now thanks to foxit even on my old 500 Mhz I keep around as a parts tester pdf files load easily and smooth.

Foxit Reader

Ahem. Apologies. That URL should be http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

I use Foxit Reader . Damn small & fast. As free as Acrobat reader is.

Quick Google search has found at least two :

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php#/
Reviewed at
http://www.download.com/Foxit-PDF-Reader/3640-2079 _4-10470005.html?v=1/

Downside : won't work in a Tab in Firefox. Then again, Acrobat doesn't always like to play properly with Firefox also.

http://www.lifehacker.com/software//download-of-th e-day-foxit-pdf-reader-109741.php/

Also :

http://www.visagesoft.com/products/pdfreader/

Next step : Doing something like this that is integrated with the browser. It's just a shame that MS would rather produce a new 'standard' than do it with IE.

See - who said Mac users can't be helpful to PC users sometimes.

foxit reader for pdf viewing is the free small fast pdf viewer for windows...

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

also opera claims to be the fastest web browser ever. and it does not support all the rootkits that IE does. http://www.opera.com/ at 3.5 mb and free, its smaller and faster than firefox on my p233.

And why would they use NAV instead of this?-http://www.grisoft.com/doc/1.I'm sure the AVG folks would give them a little kickback to plug the pro version while still giving folks an anti virus that would'nt hose the registry.

If we want to ignore Adobe's attempts to upsell, then I would simply mention that FoxIt PDF was nominated in a different thread as a better replacement for Acrobat Reader.

ClamWin is open source; you or someone else could build that option, if you desire it. I would disable on-access because I find it an unnecessary waste.

Regarding the Reader, I accept the underlying point of your friendly quibble. I was pointing out that Google is being paid by companies expecting an upsell when there is FOSS available. But directly on your point, someone else mentioned FoxIt PDF which works _excellently_ as a PDF reader.

Regarding:
automatically scanning files before letting the user run them

Since ClamWin is open source, unlike your AVG, perhaps you or someone else can help build that option.

Personally, I would disable it. What an annoying waste of my resources! (I disagree with your 99% exaggeration.)

You can keep your Adobe (Acrobat) Reader. Way to heavy.
I've been using Foxit Reader for a while now and it just works and it is fast.

Besides... the name is just great with one of the other tools in the Google pack: Firefox and Foxit ;)
Now we just needs a Foxbar, Deskfox, Fox-aware, Foxasa, Anti-fox (hmm, that doesn't sound good), Planetfox, Foxsaver.

Easy. Print to PDF. Re-edit. Rinse. Repeat.
In windows, try PrimoPDF -powered by Ghostscript- to get a new PDF with the form filled out, so yo can keep an electronic copy around. If you need to make minor modifications use a PDF editor like Foxit.
In linux a straight print to file and a ps2pdf will do for the first part, and you can edit the filled-out PDF with scribus.

Try out the Foxit PDF Reader, it's free and lots faster than Adobe. And it's not from Adobe so it lets you handle pdf's the way you want it...

There are a lot more applications that work from a USB key that don't advertise that fact. I will share with you what I currently use on my 1gb USB key and the locations you can download them. Most of these are freeware or relatively cheap shareware. Please help the authors continue their work if you use any of these and make a small donation at their sites if available.

Audacity - http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
This one will run from your key, but it does write to the registry which portable apps should not do. Then again, they don't advertise this as a portable app. Once you use it on a machine and configure it, it will remember your settings on that machine of course. Handy if you are locked down at work from installing software but you need it occasionally.

Bulk Rename Utility - http://www.jimwillsher.co.uk/Site/Software/Softwar e_Intro.php
a utility which allows the rapid renaming of files and folders, based upon flexible selection criteria. Download the zip version for portability.

FeedReader - http://www.feedreader.com/
This project is currently dead, but it works from USB wonderfully.

FoxitReader - http://www.foxitsoftware.com/bbs/index.php
A PDF reader that works very quickly (kind of like Adobe used to about 6 years ago).

Miranda - http://www.miranda-im.org/
A powerful and flexible multiprotocol IM client with loads of plugins. Download the zip version for portability.

mIRC - http://www.mirc.com/
Everyones favorite IRC app. Has always been portable.

PortableFileZilla - http://portableapps.com/
Portable FileZilla is the popular FileZilla FTP client packaged as a portable app, so you can take your server list and settings with you.

PortableFirefox - http://portableapps.com/
Portable Firefox is the popular Mozilla Firefox web browser packaged as a portable app, so you can take your bookmarks, extensions and saved passwords with you.

PortableNVU - http://portableapps.com/
Portable NVU is the easy-to-use NVU web editor packaged as a portable app, so you can edit your website on the go.

PortableOpenOffice - http://portableapps.com/
Portable OpenOffice.org is the popular OpenOffice.org office suite -- including a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation tool, drawing package and database -- packaged as a portable app

PortableSunbird - http://portableapps.com/
Portable Sunbird is the handy Mozilla Sunbird calendar and task manager packaged as a portable app, so you can take your calendar and to do list with you.

PortableThunderbird - http://portableapps.com/
Portable Thunderbird is the popular Mozilla Thunderbird email client packaged as a portable app, so you can take your email, address book and account settings with you.

Snippy - http://www.bhelpuri.net/Snippy/
Snippy is a small utility that captures an area of your screen to your clipboard to paste into other applications.

AleJenJes Countdown Timer - http://www.gonebowlin.com/freeware.html
It is a simple countdown timer where you enter the starting time in hours, minutes & seconds and it counts down to zero. Not needed often, but handy as can be for those few instances you do need one.

Unit Conversion Utility - http://www.jimwillsher.co.uk/Site/Software/UCU_Int ro.html
Unit Conversion U

Check out Foxit Reader Pro at http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_pro.php

That's what FoxIt PDF reader is for. Wicked fast and no messy installer / uninstaller.
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

With 2 as 1 maybe they can make Acrobat Reader launch faster or atleast not crash my browser oh btw http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php A nice small pdf reader

Use Foxit, free and fast PDF reader. And when I say fast, I mean really fast. Adobe (with removed plugin dir and various other tuneups) isn't even in the same class, by far. Try it and you'll see.

"the readers are bloated" this one is both small and fast and has always worked for da snugge! http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

This is just a ten second selection, if you take your time you will find hundreds if not thousands of apps capable of handling PDF files. Im fairly sure you will find an application that suits your needs if you just lift a couple of rocks. Start by collecting a bunch of PDF files to test the different apps on.

Online:
http://www.sanface.com/webpdfviewer.html
http://view.samurajdata.se/
Windows:
http://www.hsinlin.com/software/pdf.html
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/
http://www.cadkas.de/downengpdf5.php
http://www.freewarehome.com/Business_and_Productiv ity/Word_Processing/PDF_t.html
http://www.tucows.com/downloads/Windows/DesignTool s/PDFTools/

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

Try Foxit PDF reader

Its fast ( 1 sec load on my XP2400+)
Its efficient (1 .exe, no extra plugins, no installer)
It displays PDF files ... and doesn't screw around with anything else.

I'd be happy with a pdf viewer that doesn't take up to a minute to load on a 2.8ghz machine w/ 1gb RAM & a nice fast MB. http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php - Happiness awaits

Or maybe use a non bloated PDF reader like Foxit Reader

Awesome! Wish it ran that fast on mine! Use FoxItReader. It's a lot faster and smalller. Homepage here: http://www.foxitsoftware.com/ Download here: http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/pdfrd.zip

Awesome! Wish it ran that fast on mine! Use FoxItReader. It's a lot faster and smalller. Homepage here: http://www.foxitsoftware.com/ Download here: http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/pdfrd.zip

a) Acrobat is a program, not a format. If you're on windows, check out a program called Foxit PDF Reader. It's much nicer as a reader (but doesn't print on my box, oh well).

b) To make Acrobat play nicer with your browser, go into C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader\plug_ins and remove all the files EXCEPT AcroSign.prc, EWH32.api, Search5.api, Search.api -- the freezing of your browser is caused by Acrobat loading all it's extra plugins, so just remove them and it will be faster.

Personally, I have the Acrobat plugin disabled, and I have the browser open PDFs in Foxit. But whatever.

You should take a look at Foxit Reader. It can open a PDF in less than a second (on my machine).

I stumbled onto Foxit Reader a few weeks ago and found it to be a great free replacement for Adobe Reader. It's very fast to load and has all the features that I need (which to be honest, is only a handful).

There are alternatives to Adobe Reader for Windows.....

Better yet, as one user suggested, use Foxit instead.

I just tried Foxit and I love it. I just uninstalled Adobe PDF reader and one reboot later it is out of my life for good. I don't know if I should thank you or offer you my first born. Foxit and acrobat reader do the same thing, Foxit is 2.5 meg and Reader is 40.

Foxit reminds me of OS X's Preview every time I use it. Fast, lean, and loads quickly. It may not read some of the more advanced stuff that PDFs may contain, but it's great for previewing/printing. Free as in beer. No install required, so I even carry a copy on my thumbdrive.

Ok just going to answer #2, as I dislike Access too much to give an unbiased opinion on #1.

The PDF standard is in all actuality a "Generic format" as you term it. You see there might be a proprietary reader such as Acrobat required to view the document. However there is nothing preventing others from creating their own PDF reader application. The spec's on the PDF format are well known and published on the Adobe website (http://partners.adobe.com/public/developer/pdf/in dex_reference.html).

There are plenty of other PDF viewers around if you look. There is no need to use Acrobat to view a PDF document. On Linux you could use Xpdf, or gPDF to view the file. On the MacOS you could use the bundled Preview application. If you really don't want to use the Acrobat PDF reader for Windows any longer (I'm making the assumption that you're running Windows based on you not realizing that there are other options, I could easily be wrong here) I would suggest that you check out GSView (http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/gsview/index.htm) or perhaps FoxIt (http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php). Not that these are the only options available, just the first few I found. ;-)

Just because there is one widely known reader for a format does not mean that it is a closed format.

Gremlin

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

(Note: I have no affiliation with Foxit. They just make a better free Windows PDF Reader.)

Ask and yee shall receive--http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro .php

Maybe you'd like to try FoxIt: Foxit PDF Reader is small (the download size less than 1MB), so you can download it quickly. It doesn't need any lengthy installation, so you can start to run it as soon as you can download it. Find it at: http://www.foxitsoftware.com/ It's also faster to load than Adobe Reader. I've been using it for several months and I like it a lot.

I think the concept itself it good, but Adobe's implementation (which is by far the most widespread) is slow as molassess, up hill, IN THE WINTER.

http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php
http://www.planetpdf.com/

I've only used Adobe's reader.
I have used a free pdf maker, and it worked fine.

I recently stopped using Acrobat Reader because it was so slow and bloated. I find FoxIt Reader a faster alternative.

Can't edit a PDF? WTF?

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

'Nuff said.

(Actually, try their reader out, as well. Basically, thanks to them, my *shit... that's a PDF* reflex is dying.)

While I doubt if many people will see this post; I am able to read PDF files just fine without Acrobat Reader.

No, I don't have the pdf extension for firefox turning into HTML either. Instead I installed an app I saw mentioned on someones blog:

Foxit Reader available at http://www.foxitsoftware.com/

It's free, fast, and lightweight. Plus there was no installation. Just unzip it, then launch it (tell it to be the default pdf reader) and enjoy.

I'm not affiliated with the product at all but I am happy with it. I uninstalled Acrobat Reader almost immediately after trying it out.

You might like foxit ( http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php ) It is a pdf reader that is really fast and small.

On Windows I got tired of Adobe Acrobat crashing or bringing my laptop to a screeching halt. Now I use Foxit PDF Reader. It's small and fast. Just check out the download size if you don't believe me. And ofcourse there is xpdf on BSD/Linux.

I'd like to take this opportunity to advertise Foxit PDF Reader (http://www.foxitsoftware.com/). There's a free (beer) edition, which doesn't nag or expire, acts like Adobe Reader and does it all quickly.

Adobe Acrobat tries to install the damn thing too, use foxit instead of Acroreader.

If you are on Windows, and are not forced to use Acrobat, try Foxit as a PDF Reader. It loads very quickly.

The version I am using does not load the pdf into the browser window, however, with as quickly as it loads a pdf, I do not mind this at all.

I use Foxit Read (http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php) as a replacement for Acrobat Reader. It seems to be faster, and that makes me happy.

Andy

I've found that Foxit Reader is much faster than Acrobat for viewing pdfs, while not GPL it is free. http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php