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The PDF format really is a great thing. It allows people to exchange rather compact documents that look exactly the same no matter which computer or operating system it is viewed on. Of course, Adobe is the world leader when it comes to PDF. Many people I know refer to Acrobat reader, the ubiquitous PDF viewer, simply as "Adobe". Believe it or not, there are alternatives to Adobe when it comes to PDF viewing and creation - and many of them are 100% free!

PDF Viewer

I used to really like the Adobe Acrobat Reader. It seemed to always work well. But, it seemed like each time I upgraded to the newest version, the program took longer and longer to load. It wasn't my imagination either. Each time Adobe upgrades the Acrobat Reader, they are making it capable of supporting features that they are adding to their line of PDF creation software - Acrobat Standard and Acrobat Professional. The problem is that the support for these features makes the program take forever (in relative computing time) to load when I just want to read a gosh darn 2-page PDF. What I am saying is that the program we all use to view PDF files has features that 98% of us never use. Fortunately for us, I came across an excellent free alternative - Foxit PDF Reader.

The Foxit PDF Reader only has the things you need, and nothing you don't. It loads immediately when you click on a PDF file and displays it just like it would display in Acrobat Reader. It is easy to master because many of the icons look exactly like they do in Acrobat Reader. With Foxit PDF Reader, you still have all of the convenient functions you need: printing, zooming, text search, text selection, a snapshot utility to take a picture of part of the PDF, a full-screen mode, and it has the Foxit Typewriter to fill in PDF forms. By default, Foxit Reader shows a small ad in the top right corner promoting one of its paid programs (much like the Adobe Reader). Amazingly, you can shut off the unobtrusive ad by simply going to View > Advertisement. How many programs allow you to do that?

Foxit PDF Reader is now my default PDF viewer. I keep Acrobat on my system just in case I need to view a PDF with some sort of advanced feature (although this has yet to happen). Foxit is only a 1MB download. Fight the Adobe monopoly, download Foxit PDF Reader!

Screenshot of the Foxit PDF Reader showing the PDF version of the GeekyJock.com homepage. Has all of the familiar controls of Acrobat but loads much faster.

Continue to the Geeky Jock's review three free PDF creators >>