Alternative to Adobe Reader

[Allen]

I'm looking for an alternative to Adobe Reader for viewing .pdf files. I have found a list on Wikipedia, but not sure which is the best (as in not bloated or constantly trying to update itself).

Any ideas?

[Grey M@a]

I used Foxit reader for a while does what you need and comes in around 3mb I think it was installed.

[mycarsavw]

Another vote for Foxit

[TheAnimus]

Foxit seems the popular alternative, but it is like acrobat is known for been vulnerable to attacks, so kids, remember don't run with scissors and use UAC.

[watercooled]

I highly recommend SumatraPDF, it's so much faster than Reader and weighs in at a few MB. Just download the .zip version if you're unsure.

[jimbouk]

I highly recommend SumatraPDF, it's so much faster than Reader and weighs in at a few MB. Just download the .zip version if you're unsure.

I moved from acrobat to foxit to sumatra. My only grip with SumatraPDF is that it doesn't apply windows colours to documents (I like dark green on pale yellow for reading) but I don't read that many pdfs at home and have sumatra and acrobat at work.

[this_is_gav]

Staff at work have had multiple problems printing large PDFs through Foxit, so rather reluctantly I deployed Adobe Reader again. It's fine for reading PDFs in my own experience though.

[Georgy291]

foxit

[wasteoid]

Thumbs up for foxit to.

C.

[jim]

I would go with Sumatra.

I found Foxit nearly as clunky as Adobe to be honest.

[Lourdes]

Foxit used to be light but got pretty awkward, will try Sumatra.

[AGTDenton]

Been using Foxit for the last few years. I disable Auto updates but the updates are few and far between from Foxit which is really nice!
Only thing I find slightly annoying, I often have to view PDF's that contain chinese/taiwan characters, Foxit then tries to download some fonts and there is no way, in the version I have, to disable this. But the fact that Foxit reader starts instantly and renders pictures better than Adobe, I will overlook the font issue.

In addition I sometimes use Adobe PDF 5/6, these were the last versions in my opinion small enough to run pretty fast and can still view the vast majority of manuals found on the web. As long as you're not bothered by vulnerbilities of PDF apps disable the autoupdates as there wont be any and you'll be laughing.

Never heard of Sumatra so will have a play with this soon, looks very simple, I like the fact it just runs with no registry rubbish!

[Lambie]

Foxit Reader, although it seems to have got a bit more bloated over the last year or two?

If you do try it remember to untick the 'Ask!' toolbar during installation..

[Allen]

After reading the comments, I decided to try Sumatra... Must say I'm very impressed on how small and lightweight it is. Thank guys!

[Giraffe]

For 2 or 3 years I've used PDF-Xchange Viewer (the free version, of course). Before and during that time I've also tried Sumatra and Foxit but found them limited and crude by comparison.

PDF-Xchange Viewer needs careful installation (there is a portable version) as it wants to install 'other' things, but that's easy to control.

http://www.tracker-software.com/prod...xchange-viewer

[Gunbuster]

I used to use Foxit, now I use Nitro Reader. Mainly because of the Windows 7 integration.