Slashdot Mirror

Here is another one:

Foxit Read 7.3.0.118 Classic toolbar missing

Foxit decided to be "professional" and force the ribbon on their users.
A pointless UI change that made the software worse and made a lot of their users turn of upgrades so that they could stay with an old version or they went out to look for competing software.

foxit reader. http://www.foxitsoftware.com/d...

This was on Windows with Firefox and the Adobe plugin. I don't have the built-in plugin because I like popping out PDFs and because the built-in viewer is slow as balls on nontrivial PDFs.

Loser. Try the Firefox plugin from Foxit software instead. It can handle "nontrivial" PDFs, and is quick about it. I also have full Adobe on my work PC, but use Foxit as the PDF reader. It's faster than the crappy insecure Adobe stuff.

I've never heard of anyone having any security issues with Foxit.

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/Secure_PDF_Reader/security_bulletins.php

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/Secure_PDF_Reader/version_history.php

It would be handy, if you actually wanted to produce pdf. Given that Adobe's pdf tools are what most people use, and that those are absolutely the largest vector for malware IN THE WORLD, I don't want any more pdf around.

Why is anyone using Adobe Reader anymore? There are several very nice alternatives, including Foxit, PDF-Xchange, Sumatra, Slim and others. I haven't used Adobe on any of my computers for years.

Or use Google Chrome. It has an Google-built PDF reader and Google-managed Flash updates. You never have to touch an Adobe installer ever again.

But if you're anti-EULA, Foxit is no help. Point of comparison: The Foxit EULA is 3,683 words long. The Adobe section in Google Chrome's EULA (which covers Flash) is 2,476. Google Chrome's ToS in the EULA is 3,983 words.

Actually there's a pretty decent solution here: use foxit. That's for reader, I'm not familiar with an alternative for flash though that's yet to catch wind. The rest of their products have alternatives too.

This is old, but you may want to take a look at Foxit Reader

I haven't had to suffer Adobe Reader since I found it!

Foxit works pretty well for me

P.S. PDF is not supposed to be a editable filetype.

Adobe Acrobat X Pro software enables you to create and edit PDF files.

Foxit PDF Editor.

Nitro PDF Professional editor.

Edit PDF files with PDFescape.

Sometimes, thirty seconds with Google can keep you from saying really stupid things.

Typical of android owners, they know nothing at all about computers and what filetypes to use for editing.

You may submit your apology to me and my Samsung Epic at your leisure.

Without intending to start a flame war, I wish the programming side of computing was as interested in making things smaller and faster in code.

I don't think it's as bad as all that. Believe me, I would love it if all the software I used were trimmed-down and brilliantly optimized. There is indeed quite a lot of software that is bloated and slow. But it really just comes down to value propositions: is it worth the effort (in programming time, testing, etc.)? For companies, it comes down to whether making the software faster will bring in more sales. For many products, it won't bring in new sales (as compared to adding some new feature), so they don't bother.

But in places where it does matter, there actually is some good competition. In browser rendering, for instance, the big players are all competing to improve performance (e.g. Mozilla). Think even of something as horribly inefficient as Adobe Acrobat Reader... It's inefficiency has in fact led to the creation of lighter-weight alternatives (e.g. Sumatra or FoxIt). Another example is in graphics: there are all kinds of brilliant and powerful algorithms and optimizations working in modern software to make the slick graphics we now take for granted.

In an ideal world, every piece of software would be crafted to perfection, and would ship as a perfectly secure, extremely small chunk of code that runs blazingly fast because of the thousands of meticulous assembly-level optimizations that were performed. Reality falls short. But, on the other hand, our modern computers are really quite functional and fast. So I would say we should keep putting pressure on vendors to ship faster software, to the extent that we notice the slowness and it bothers us... but we should also acknowledge the real effort that is going into optimization all the time.

So is this closed-source then? If so, then presumably it won't make it into Chromium.

I think Foxit is proprietary, but it's really, really fast; display speed between Foxit PDF Reader and Adobe Reader isn't even a contest. Last I checked it leaves Ghostscript in the dust too. I haven't used anything but Foxit for Windows PDF reading for a while now. Now, Poppler (which uses Cairo) is a different story: those libraries are pretty fast. Chromium might be able to do something interesting with a Poppler-based reader instead of Foxit.

I'm pretty sure the journalist is just confused (I know - surprising right?), and it is actually using Foxit's PDF library:

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/sdk/dll/

This also means it won't end up in Chromium.

PDF's don't have to take 15 seconds to load:

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/addons.php

I agree with you that Foxit is faster and easy to use however it has had vulnerabilities. http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/security_bulletins.php

Or you could just...this is a thought, just throwing it out there...use Foxit with SandboxIE and call it a day. Or if you would prefer even more protection run Comodo AV or Internet Security and have EVERYTHING sandboxed. And that is of course if you are running on an older Windows, as Vista and 7 already do file and registry virtualization.

It really isn't hard to isolate programs anymore, or set up a machine so all but the most determined idiots can't hose it. I have my customers as well as my family on a combo of Comodo+Firefox with ABP+Foxit and frankly I can't remember the last time I had to clean a bug from one of those machines. Short of them ignoring the AV and saying "Yes, I'd like a bug, please install it!" they really have nothing to worry about. Just have everything set to autoupdate, along with an easy to setup program like Winutilities Free to automate registry and broken shortcut cleaning and defragging and the machine is as close to an appliance as one can get. It takes me less than a half hour and then I don't have to mess with it ever again.

So banning flash really is a case of chopping off your head to get rid of a headache. The users will scream bloody murder when their Farmville and videos don't work, and frankly it is unnecessary. You can even set up Filehippo update checker so all their third party programs are updated regularly as well. It really ain't hard AC.

Uhhh...Foxit has had "safe mode" for quite awhile now, and with safe mode no external commands are allowed which kills malware dead in its tracks since it has no way to call functions outside the reader. It also has ASLR and DEP in the versions of Windows that support those features, making it even harder to exploit. so what exactly does having it sandboxed do that makes it safer than the current Foxit?

Not trying to advocate one or the other here, as I gave up on reader around version 6 (whichever one started using quickstarter crap) for me and my customers and strictly give them Foxit unless requested otherwise but I really haven't gotten a chance to study sandboxes in depth, so I'm curious: Does one automatically give advantage over the other? Or can an app with good security measures like Foxit give an equal level of security? Since I'm on Windows 7 running Comodo everything is sandboxed by default anyway so it won't affect me personally, but for my customers on XP it'd be good to know.

Have you tried Foxit PDF Reader? It's free, they seem to get patches out more quickly, often on the same day an exploit is announced, they use a separate light and more locked down PDF reader for Firefox to help make web based PDFs less of a security risk, and they aren't a bloated mess like Adobe.

If you decide you want to try it I would get it through Ninite as Ninite is a single click online unattended installation, has dozens of apps that you can install in any combo you choose, has all the ones friends/relatives call you complaining they don't have, such as Flash, Java, .NET, Silverlight,etc, and is pretty much a one stop shop for apps that even your grandma could use. Oh and NO toolbars allowed, which some companies just seem to love to drop on you nowadays (I'm looking at YOU Sun/Oracle!)

So give it a try. I have a feeling once you switch over to Foxit and Ninite you won't be going back. Ninite is especially good if you have any long distance relatives you need to support. Just tell them which programs to tick the checkbox for, tell them to run it, and voila! Free apps all installed and set up pretty as you please. Makes a great way to set up a new PC too.

*ahem*.

You mean like they already have?

You clearly didn't read the last week's Slashdot article. This exploit is already fixed in Foxit.

Yes, foxit has patched the vuln: http://forums.foxitsoftware.com//showthread.php?t=18044

That fact made me uninstall Foxit for now at least.

You shouldn't have to wait long.

http://forums.foxitsoftware.com/showthread.php?t=18029

this issue has been confirmed, and a maintenance version will be released within this week.

Yes Foxit actually has security issues as well.I personally don't think there are as many because Foxit isn't in as much wide use (Foxit isn't bundled with new PC's for instance).

The plain and simple fact is that it is hard to make secure software. Couple that with the fact that the PDF format is well over 20 years old (as you can imagine there's a lot of legacy code in the viewer) and you have a recipe for the perfect security nightmare.

The other problem is - once one researcher/hacker finds a big exploit the blood is in the water and suddenly you have a bunch of people looking into it for obvious reasons.

Their product is a nice vector, too.

I beg to differ.
Foxit Software's Reader is pretty well known now, and has been mentioned on Slashdot numerous times over the past year or so, when there's been articles involving PDF's.

Your comment suggests that you use Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Fixed that for you

I've seen sites with these vulnerabilities, and they can cruise right through Firefox if written correctly. Why Firefox was crashing instead of loading Acrobat is either you may have a plugin that blocks malicious strings, (Like Adblock Plus - Which I highly recommend) Firefox already patched a hole that the malware was trying to exploit or they were exploiting an IE hole to start Acrobat and Firefox didn't like the way it was called. Also Consider that Firefox crashed, which can also lead to a possible code injection attack if it can be exploited in a specific manner.

Ultimately, The real Culprit here is the PDF File. Adobe in in general is the attack of choice anymore. Most likely it was a malicious Flash Ad delivered from a Third party service, which then called for a malicious PDF, which the browser will happily open up using Acrobat's plugin.

If you really want to fix this, block the AD's (either with The Firefox plugin AdBlock Plus or with IE8's Inprivate Filtering and either get the latest Acrobat (which finally has some security in it) or replace it with Foxit Reader

Finally. Always Update IE Even if you exclusively use Firefox and never ever use IE. There is a lot of improvements that were made in security in IE8, and I have seen Flash apps that in Firefox will start IE to attempt to exploit unpatched IE holes. If you can't (Because Ye Be A Pirate Matey!! ARRR!! or because your company won't let you.) Then turn IE6 security to high for all security zones and use Firefox exclusively.

You might want to switch to Foxit PDF Reader
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/

Smaller, faster, safer.

Well you can always use alternate PDF readers, like Foxit Reader (and no bloat either)

or Here

Both are good places to start. You can end at the other.

Although, Foxit has added the Ass - err, Ask toolbar, which sucks. Fortunately you can not agree to the toolbar's terms, and it won't install (but Foxit will still install)

Seems like deja vu, since this has issue cropped up before, what with everything from Adobe wanting to install (at least on Mac and Windows) with system level privileges and enable javascript by default. [Tell me again, how is javascript a desirable feature for this file type?]

Which makes it a good idea to use alternatives like Preview, and Skim (for OS X), as well as Foxit Reader for Windows.

It's not like there's a paucity of options to get away from Adobe's bloatware, no matter what OS you're running.

Have you considered the Foxit eSlick.

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/ebook/

I haven't tried one myself. I'm a bit dubious about the way it's *all* PDF (reflowable text seems better for many kinds of writing). But if PDF works for you, Foxit are among the best at it. Their software PDF viewer is certainly better than Adobe's.

Compare the performance of something like FoxIt PDF Reader ( http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/ ) against Adobe Reader, and then tell me with a straight face that Adobe's version is better.

Last time I used Foxit (during the summer), I had issues with printing. It missed half the graphical elements on a number of slides, including simple lines (though it did print the arrowheads at the end). These elements appeared perfectly fine on-screen, but simply wouldn't print. Adobe Reader had no issue, nor did Preview on OS X.

Take this anecdote as you will, though it's pretty much as well-supported as what's provided above.

PDF may have been created by Adobe, but it is at least a Published Standard and my memory tells me that Adobe was a little lest evil back then. I've always found Foxit Reader very lean and fast on a windows platform, so having to install Adobe reader for General PDF viewing is unnecessary. Now it borks with Adobes extensions to the format, but they are not part of the standard and they seem to be following the path of MS, breaking compatibility to try and gain back/maintain a monopoly over the PDF format.

Compare the performance of something like FoxIt PDF Reader ( http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/ ) against Adobe Reader, and then tell me with a straight face that Adobe's version is better.

Open a pdf file in Adobe Reader and then open the same pdf in foxit reader and compare the text quality side by side and then tell me with a straight face that foxit is better. Bonus points if you have astigmatism and presbiopia.

Compare the performance of something like FoxIt PDF Reader ( http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/ ) against Adobe Reader, and then tell me with a straight face that Adobe's version is better. And if you leave Windows-land and get to Linux, then there's options like evince which are also significantly better than Adobe's offering.

And honestly, the only reason that Flash is installed on my computer at all is for YouTube. If I had a choice in the matter, I wouldn't have that load of crap at all... more often than not, it's used for intrusive ads on websites, not anything of actual value. (gawd, I hate surfing at work, where I am in serious hock if I'm caught using anything other than MSIE 6.0... *shudder*)

Maybe Foxit's ebook reader is what you want

As a PC repairman I hate to break the news to y'all, but home users never update the damned PC. you could give them Apt and it would be just one more update they don't actually use. I have had machine come across my desk with 4+ year old copies of Norton AV (expired of course) and not a single update applied since it left the factory. That is just SOP for a good 90% of home users.

That is why my customers love me so much, because my motto is "do the thinking so they don't have to". So not only do I use Autopatcher to install all the current updates and have the latest service packs as well as set autoupdate for the OS, but I install Foxit set to autoupdate, have Spybot scheduled to autoupdate and scan, install Comodo AV/Firewall and have it set to scan on the customers schedule, install Firefox and set it to be the default browser, install the latest Flash and Shockwave and Java as well as Klite Mega codec pack so I don't have to worry about them downloading dodgy codecs, and finally install VLC Player which autoupdates and have it set as default video player.

While I don't get the return business of those that just reinstall and hand it to the customer to bone again I make up for that in referrals. But thinking something like Apt would be a silver bullet for home users is strictly a fantasy. First it would have to be run by MSFT to incorporate the Windows patches as well as third party updates, which would lead to vendors screaming and probably an antitrust investigation and I'm sure the EU would find a reason to have a shitfit, but then MSFT would get to deal with 3 or 4 years worth of lawsuits when they refuse to "provide" the myriad of programs that insist on installing toolbars or unrelated programs, like Java (toolbar) or iTunes (unrelated Safari and Quicktime).

So while having a central repository works for Linux, it simply would never work for Windows. Between trialware, crapware, toolbar installers, and unrelated installers you would either make it a one stop shop for crap which means the users would never allow it to run, or MSFT would spend the next decade in court for refusing to allow crapware into the repository. So sorry, it just wouldn't work.

FoxIT Reader.
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/

Unfortunately, it isn't that simple. Many of the alternatives lack key features that make it difficult for many users.

IIRC there are some kinds of PDF Forms which still cause problems in Foxit Reader. Also, because Foxit doesn't have CoolType and Adobe does, PS/OpenType fonts which are not specifically hinted for the screen (and are used by many design shops) look *much* better on Adobe reader than Foxit, making it invaluable for pre-publishing previews.

Also, specifically for Foxit -- it has its own share of vulnerabilities.

Dont use Acrobat... There are several alternatives available all less bloated:

GPL'd PDF reader: http://blog.kowalczyk.info/software/sumatrapdf/index.html

Commercial: http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/

As soon as I get some cash together, I'm probably going to buy an ESlick as it doesn't have any of that DRM crap! Oh, and it's at a pretty reasonable price too. http://www.foxitsoftware.com/ebook/

And you just hit right on the head the biggest security measure you can do-get them off IE! I have found by getting them off IE, either with FF, Seamonkey(the older folks seem to prefer its Netscape style layout to FF), Kmeleon(for older machines) or Flock(for those into social networking) the rate of infection goes WAY down with my users.

The second biggest security advice I can give is don't make your users think. I have Comodo set to auto scan nightly based on their usage patterns, Spybot set to do the same, Foxit does its own updates, Windows set to autoupdate, etc. I have found that by relying on the user as little as possible it helps to keep the system up to date and less of a target. Relying on the user is how so many end up with a four year old out of date Symantec "product" as the only AV on a users machine.

But I personally think it is funny that the head of Symantec is warning about free AVs, when oftentimes his "product" will drag a machine to its knees worse than any malware infection! When I hand the customer a box that previously had Symantec their machine with something like Comodo installed the first thing they comment on is how much faster their machine is, which is kinda sad, as once upon a time (during the days of DOS and Win9X) Norton was a sign of quality. But like most things Symantec touches Norton turned to crap. BTW, is there any product the Symantec bought that hasn't turned to crap?

That's why I'm getting one of these instead of a Kindle.

I use and recommend the free version of Foxit reader.

Good for Adobe, but Acrobat is crap anyways. It takes forever to load up and uses way more system resources than it should. Foxit Reader is what you should be using.

"nothing more annoying than going to view a pdf file, and having to update Acrobat"

Foxit - I got fed up of how big and clunky acrobat - a viewer - has gotten, and constantly seeing it's quick start thing being left in memory all the time unless I manually kill off the process. I have foxit installed now. It behaves. You might want to have a look.

(No, I don't work for them. I just got tired of Adobe's crap and gave them a try. Haven't looked back since.)