PDF Documents

From Windowsxp

PDF (Portable Document Format) is a common document type on the Internet. PDFs excellently reproduce the original formatting (including images) of a document.

The most common reader for PDFs is Adobe Acrobat Reader. However, the program is slow, bloated and constantly asks for updates. There are several free alternatives available. Windows XP Security Wiki recommends the first choice below: Foxit Reader 2.0.

Foxit Reader 2.0

Foxit Reader 2.0 is a free, fast PDF reader program. By comparison, Adobe Acrobat is 20 Megabytes in size; Foxit is 1.5 Megabytes. As such, it can fit on removable media such as a USB Drive.

Foxit offers many of the same features as Adobe, as well as the ability to fill out PDF forms inside the document and the capability to annotate a PDF.

In terms of security, Foxit claims that "Foxit Reader highly respects the security and privacy of users and will never connect to Internet without users' permission. While other PDF Reader often silently connects to the Internet in the background. Foxit PDF Reader does not contain any spyware or adware."

This is the PDF software that I personally use, and it has served me well.