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#1
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What is your favorite PDF reader?
I've never liked Adobe Acrobat, or PDF reader. (I think they stopped
using the word Acrobat several years ago). Anyhow, years ago, I began using Foxit reader. Back then it worked well, and Foxit advertised it as being small and fast, and lacking connections to the internet, and so on.....They compared their early version as beng 1.5 megs compared to what they said the SLOW Adobe reader, which was a 20+meg file. Well, that has all changed. I have been using Foxit version 2.x (last of the vers 2), which was the last version for Win98. Well, lately, that version locks up quite often. Not the OS, just itself. I suppose it's due to all the extra stuff they are adding to new PDF files, which includea Java scripts. [comment]. I hate Java Script. It seems to wreck everything it touches and is the #1 cause of browser lockups, and now PDF readers..... Not to mention it's a gateway to allow malware into a computer. Anyhow, I tried to install a newer version of Foxit on Win98, and although ver 3.0 is not listed to run on Win98, it does work. But it's still prone to locking up on soem PDF files. On my XP computer, I installed version 5.x It's now gone the sazme direction as Adobe. It's loaded with bloat, continuously opens my browser (which that computer is not connected to the internet), has a lot of advertising when the start page opens, amd contains a toolbar to Ask.com, which attempted to change my browser homepage to Ask.com. And 5.x is not the latest version. The latest is 6.x (I think it's 6.1). That file is close to 32 megs. In other words, they have abandoned the fast and simple, and gone the same way as Adobe. I decided to see what alternatives exist to replace BOTH Adobe and Foxit. That's when I found this website: Five Best PDF Readers. http://lifehacker.com/5328211/five-best-pdf-readers By a long run, the chosen reader is PDF-XChange 61.36% (11,673 votes) With the next two as Foxit 20.87% (3,970 votes) Adobe Reader 6.95% (1,322 votes) It looks like PDF-XChange wins by a huge margin. I just downloaded it. Seems pretty good sdo far.... |
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#2
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What is your favorite PDF reader?
| http://lifehacker.com/5328211/five-best-pdf-readers
| | By a long run, the chosen reader is PDF-XChange | | 61.36% (11,673 votes) | | With the next two as | | Foxit 20.87% (3,970 votes) | | Adobe Reader 6.95% (1,322 votes) | | It looks like PDF-XChange wins by a huge margin. | | I just downloaded it. Seems pretty good so far.... | I noticed the article says PDF-XChange won't export text in the free version, but I just tried it out and it seems to be fully functional. There's no Save As or Export for TXT. There isn't even Edit - Select All, which is awkward. But one can do Ctrl + A and then do a copy and paste into Notepad. Some of the functions like that seem to be poorly designed. Too many menu choices, yet not enough. And so far I haven't figured out how to show a table of contents for books. But it's interesting. I think I'll try it out more. As far as I can tell, nothing relevant has been left out of the free version. I opened my form 1040 for 2013 and was able to edit the fields, which I don't think is possible in most readers. For the most part, I use PDF readers to convert to text. A PDF is awkward to read, unless it's something like a manual with diagrams. And in general I don't find the text rendering as crisp as plain text. But occasionally it is nice to be able to edit fields. It did require a few settings changes, like disabling javascript and removing "Search Providers". Providing online search links in a PDF editor/viewer is a good example of someone who's already started sliding down the slippery slope of bloat. As is "Open from URL". I'd be more comfortable if the program had no online functionality at all. Hopefully they'll have the sense not to slide further. |
#3
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What is your favorite PDF reader?
I use Foxit Reader 2.3 on XP.
It never locks up or fails to display a PDF document. The only changes to the Reader is I went to their site and downloaded more recent addons for viewing jpegs etc. I wouldn't mind taking a look at a sample of a PDF that locks up for you, if you could upload it somewhere. wrote in message ... I've never liked Adobe Acrobat, or PDF reader. (I think they stopped using the word Acrobat several years ago). Anyhow, years ago, I began using Foxit reader. Back then it worked well, and Foxit advertised it as being small and fast, and lacking connections to the internet, and so on.....They compared their early version as beng 1.5 megs compared to what they said the SLOW Adobe reader, which was a 20+meg file. Well, that has all changed. I have been using Foxit version 2.x (last of the vers 2), which was the last version for Win98. Well, lately, that version locks up quite often. Not the OS, just itself. I suppose it's due to all the extra stuff they are adding to new PDF files, which includea Java scripts. [comment]. I hate Java Script. It seems to wreck everything it touches and is the #1 cause of browser lockups, and now PDF readers..... Not to mention it's a gateway to allow malware into a computer. Anyhow, I tried to install a newer version of Foxit on Win98, and although ver 3.0 is not listed to run on Win98, it does work. But it's still prone to locking up on soem PDF files. On my XP computer, I installed version 5.x It's now gone the sazme direction as Adobe. It's loaded with bloat, continuously opens my browser (which that computer is not connected to the internet), has a lot of advertising when the start page opens, amd contains a toolbar to Ask.com, which attempted to change my browser homepage to Ask.com. And 5.x is not the latest version. The latest is 6.x (I think it's 6.1). That file is close to 32 megs. In other words, they have abandoned the fast and simple, and gone the same way as Adobe. I decided to see what alternatives exist to replace BOTH Adobe and Foxit. That's when I found this website: Five Best PDF Readers. http://lifehacker.com/5328211/five-best-pdf-readers By a long run, the chosen reader is PDF-XChange 61.36% (11,673 votes) With the next two as Foxit 20.87% (3,970 votes) Adobe Reader 6.95% (1,322 votes) It looks like PDF-XChange wins by a huge margin. I just downloaded it. Seems pretty good sdo far.... |
#5
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What is your favorite PDF reader?
| I've been sitting here wondering, just what is the definition of bloat,
| and do all people think bloat is the same thing. A trip to Wikipedia, | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_bloat, confirms that it can mean | different things to different people. I'm thinking your definition is | the one where features are added that you have no use for. But there | will be others who want those features. That type of bloat is a given, | I think, as computers and software evolve into more powerful products. | There's no way to avoid that. | | To me, bloat would be more and more inefficient program code. | It can be both. There's "feature bloat" and also just plain bloat. At 32 MB for the Foxit installer, I'm guessing that's probably about 70 MB for the program. The latest Adobe Reader is more like 50/100. PDF-XChange is about 8 or 16 for the download, depending on which version you get. The basic program is a 14 MB program folder. That's a lot of difference for similar functionality. Personally I get suspicious of bloat because it indicates 1) sloppiness and 2) wrappers. Some software just wraps other software and libraries. In other words, the authors don't really know much about the functionality in their software. A typical sign of wrappers is bigger program size. |
#6
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What is your favorite PDF reader?
On Wed, 16 Apr 2014 09:03:40 -0600, "darkrats"
wrote: I use Foxit Reader 2.3 on XP. It never locks up or fails to display a PDF document. The only changes to the Reader is I went to their site and downloaded more recent addons for viewing jpegs etc. I wouldn't mind taking a look at a sample of a PDF that locks up for you, if you could upload it somewhere. It would be hard to say anymore which PDFs caused a lockup because I removed Foxit months ago after getting sick of it hanging up. I went back to Adobe reader 6.0 which was the last one to run in W98. Adobe constantly nags me that it may not be able to read this PDF and to upgrade, but it vierws them ok. I do recall that Foxit would lockup more on large PDF files with many graphics. To clearify what happens: I'd click on a PDF file, Foxit would appear to begin loading, but I'd never see the file. Seeing that it did not load, I often clicked on that PDF file again. Using an aftermarket program for Win98, called Process Viewer, I would find Foxit loaded in memory (or whereever it's running), and for each time I clicked on that file, there would end up being multiple instances of Foxit loaded. Process Viewer can stop any process or program from running, so I would have to stop each instance of Foxit one by one. Once I did that. no PDF would load until I rebooted. And for some reason it seems that Foxit almost self destructed, and began doing that more and more often. Since many PDF files are large these days, this was happening far too often, so I finally just removed Foxit and went back to Adobe reader, which despite it's nags and slowness, did not cause this problem. I just setup the latest version of PDF-Exchange. The 8 meg download (portable version). First of all, it DOES work fine on Win98. (I like that). I did open several large files and they work fine. I did change the settings to disable JavaScript and remove the web links immediately. PDF Exchange seems to load slower than Foxit, more like Adobe in this regard, but but I'm using a slower computer, and I'd rather it load slow than lockup. I just installed PDF-Exchange, so aside from slower loading and having to remove the JS and weblinks, I have nothing bad to say about it (not yet anyhow). The only thing I do with PDF files is to view them. I have never seen a need to edit them. so the simpler the better..... I do see PDF-Exchange has editing capabilities and even drawing, and other stuff, but I dont see where I'll ever need those. Just being able to view a PDF file without lockups, or nags, makes me prefer it over the alternatives. I should mention that most of the PDF files I view are manuals, such as "How to rebuild a carburetor on an old farm tractor". These often include a lot of drawings and pictures, and can be large in size. But that is not where it ends. Many events often have a PDF file showing their schedule these days. For example, a fair or festival, or even some of the tv stations now offer a PDF download of their schedule. Those used to be small, and mostly text, but I've recently noticed that some of them are getting large and graphic filled too. The one thing I still do not understand, is WHY do they put Java Script into PDF files? What is the purpose? |
#7
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What is your favorite PDF reader?
On Wed, 16 Apr 2014 10:09:32 -0400, "Mayayana"
wrote: to be able to edit fields. It did require a few settings changes, like disabling javascript and removing "Search Providers". Providing online search links in a PDF editor/viewer is a good example of someone who's already started sliding down the slippery slope of bloat. As is "Open from URL". I'd be more comfortable if the program had no online functionality at all. Hopefully they'll have the sense not to slide further. For those of you who have tried PDF-Exchange, can you find the "SET AS DEFAULT PDF PROGRAM". I sure cant find it. Maybe it's because I have the portable version???? I'm tired of Adobe loading all the time when I click on a PDF. |
#8
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What is your favorite PDF reader?
That sounds like you needed to update the jpeg add-on files.
The old ones probably did not work well with large graphics. wrote in message ... On Wed, 16 Apr 2014 09:03:40 -0600, "darkrats" wrote: I use Foxit Reader 2.3 on XP. It never locks up or fails to display a PDF document. The only changes to the Reader is I went to their site and downloaded more recent addons for viewing jpegs etc. I wouldn't mind taking a look at a sample of a PDF that locks up for you, if you could upload it somewhere. It would be hard to say anymore which PDFs caused a lockup because I removed Foxit months ago after getting sick of it hanging up. I went back to Adobe reader 6.0 which was the last one to run in W98. Adobe constantly nags me that it may not be able to read this PDF and to upgrade, but it vierws them ok. I do recall that Foxit would lockup more on large PDF files with many graphics. To clearify what happens: I'd click on a PDF file, Foxit would appear to begin loading, but I'd never see the file. Seeing that it did not load, I often clicked on that PDF file again. Using an aftermarket program for Win98, called Process Viewer, I would find Foxit loaded in memory (or whereever it's running), and for each time I clicked on that file, there would end up being multiple instances of Foxit loaded. Process Viewer can stop any process or program from running, so I would have to stop each instance of Foxit one by one. Once I did that. no PDF would load until I rebooted. And for some reason it seems that Foxit almost self destructed, and began doing that more and more often. Since many PDF files are large these days, this was happening far too often, so I finally just removed Foxit and went back to Adobe reader, which despite it's nags and slowness, did not cause this problem. I just setup the latest version of PDF-Exchange. The 8 meg download (portable version). First of all, it DOES work fine on Win98. (I like that). I did open several large files and they work fine. I did change the settings to disable JavaScript and remove the web links immediately. PDF Exchange seems to load slower than Foxit, more like Adobe in this regard, but but I'm using a slower computer, and I'd rather it load slow than lockup. I just installed PDF-Exchange, so aside from slower loading and having to remove the JS and weblinks, I have nothing bad to say about it (not yet anyhow). The only thing I do with PDF files is to view them. I have never seen a need to edit them. so the simpler the better..... I do see PDF-Exchange has editing capabilities and even drawing, and other stuff, but I dont see where I'll ever need those. Just being able to view a PDF file without lockups, or nags, makes me prefer it over the alternatives. I should mention that most of the PDF files I view are manuals, such as "How to rebuild a carburetor on an old farm tractor". These often include a lot of drawings and pictures, and can be large in size. But that is not where it ends. Many events often have a PDF file showing their schedule these days. For example, a fair or festival, or even some of the tv stations now offer a PDF download of their schedule. Those used to be small, and mostly text, but I've recently noticed that some of them are getting large and graphic filled too. The one thing I still do not understand, is WHY do they put Java Script into PDF files? What is the purpose? |
#9
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What is your favorite PDF reader?
I've uploaded my copy of Foxit 2.3 that I use, if anyone wants to play
around with it. Just extract the files to an empty folder and run the application. I've included a Registry file that sets up the toolbar and preferences the way I have mine, but you don't need it to run Foxit Reader. It's about a 6MB download. When you go to Filepost, look for the grey button that says "slow download". That's the free one. To uninstall, just delete the folder and then go to the Registry and delete the entries (should only be two of them). But you can leave the Registry alone and it won't cause any problems. http://filepost.com/files/598dmm65/F...uild_2923.rar/ wrote in message ... On Wed, 16 Apr 2014 09:03:40 -0600, "darkrats" wrote: I use Foxit Reader 2.3 on XP. It never locks up or fails to display a PDF document. The only changes to the Reader is I went to their site and downloaded more recent addons for viewing jpegs etc. I wouldn't mind taking a look at a sample of a PDF that locks up for you, if you could upload it somewhere. It would be hard to say anymore which PDFs caused a lockup because I removed Foxit months ago after getting sick of it hanging up. I went back to Adobe reader 6.0 which was the last one to run in W98. Adobe constantly nags me that it may not be able to read this PDF and to upgrade, but it vierws them ok. I do recall that Foxit would lockup more on large PDF files with many graphics. To clearify what happens: I'd click on a PDF file, Foxit would appear to begin loading, but I'd never see the file. Seeing that it did not load, I often clicked on that PDF file again. Using an aftermarket program for Win98, called Process Viewer, I would find Foxit loaded in memory (or whereever it's running), and for each time I clicked on that file, there would end up being multiple instances of Foxit loaded. Process Viewer can stop any process or program from running, so I would have to stop each instance of Foxit one by one. Once I did that. no PDF would load until I rebooted. And for some reason it seems that Foxit almost self destructed, and began doing that more and more often. Since many PDF files are large these days, this was happening far too often, so I finally just removed Foxit and went back to Adobe reader, which despite it's nags and slowness, did not cause this problem. I just setup the latest version of PDF-Exchange. The 8 meg download (portable version). First of all, it DOES work fine on Win98. (I like that). I did open several large files and they work fine. I did change the settings to disable JavaScript and remove the web links immediately. PDF Exchange seems to load slower than Foxit, more like Adobe in this regard, but but I'm using a slower computer, and I'd rather it load slow than lockup. I just installed PDF-Exchange, so aside from slower loading and having to remove the JS and weblinks, I have nothing bad to say about it (not yet anyhow). The only thing I do with PDF files is to view them. I have never seen a need to edit them. so the simpler the better..... I do see PDF-Exchange has editing capabilities and even drawing, and other stuff, but I dont see where I'll ever need those. Just being able to view a PDF file without lockups, or nags, makes me prefer it over the alternatives. I should mention that most of the PDF files I view are manuals, such as "How to rebuild a carburetor on an old farm tractor". These often include a lot of drawings and pictures, and can be large in size. But that is not where it ends. Many events often have a PDF file showing their schedule these days. For example, a fair or festival, or even some of the tv stations now offer a PDF download of their schedule. Those used to be small, and mostly text, but I've recently noticed that some of them are getting large and graphic filled too. The one thing I still do not understand, is WHY do they put Java Script into PDF files? What is the purpose? |
#10
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What is your favorite PDF reader?
| For those of you who have tried PDF-Exchange, can you find the "SET AS
| DEFAULT PDF PROGRAM". I sure cant find it. Maybe it's because I have | the portable version???? I'm tired of Adobe loading all the time when I | click on a PDF. | I don't know, but it's easy enough to change: Control Panel - Folder Options - File Types Or if you've added Open with... for all files in right-click you can change it that way by picking PDF-Exchange and checking the box to "always use this program". |
#11
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What is your favorite PDF reader?
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#12
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What is your favorite PDF reader?
In message ,
writes: [] It would be hard to say anymore which PDFs caused a lockup because I removed Foxit months ago after getting sick of it hanging up. I went back to Adobe reader 6.0 which was the last one to run in W98. Adobe constantly nags me that it may not be able to read this PDF and to upgrade, but it vierws them ok. What form do the nags take? If they're a fairly conventional window, I recommend ClickOff. (Not sure if that runs under '98, though. Hang on, I'll check ... http://www.johanneshuebner.com/en/clickoff.shtml says "Windows 95 and higher". [] yet anyhow). The only thing I do with PDF files is to view them. I have never seen a need to edit them. so the simpler the better..... I do see PDF-Exchange has editing capabilities and even drawing, and other stuff, but I dont see where I'll ever need those. Just being able to view a PDF file without lockups, or nags, makes me prefer it over the alternatives. Here in UK, several government forms, for example, are available as PDF downloads; the idea is you download them and print them off, and then fill them in with a pen. I like to do so on the computer - not only is that neater (my writing isn't great), but it means I can also store a copy of what I've sent off without scanning it. I use Foxit PDF Editor 2.0; the copyright says 2007, so it's older than the version of Foxit (2012) I have - I don't know if they still do a free one. (The free one puts a small mark in the top right of pages I edit, but no government department or similar has objected so far.) (There are probably other free PDF editors that don't do that, but since that one does what I want - I don't do it often - I'll probably stay with it.) [] -- J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf # 10^-12 boos = 1 picoboo # 2*10^3 mockingbirds = 2 kilo mockingbird # 10^21 piccolos = 1 gigolo # 10^12 microphones = 1 megaphone # 10**9 questions = 1 gigawhat |
#13
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What is your favorite PDF reader?
In message , Ken Springer
writes: [] I've been sitting here wondering, just what is the definition of bloat, and do all people think bloat is the same thing. A trip to Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_bloat, confirms that it can mean different things to different people. I'm thinking your definition is the one where features are added that you have no use for. But there I think that's the current most widely-used definition. will be others who want those features. That type of bloat is a given, I think, as computers and software evolve into more powerful products. There's no way to avoid that. Agreed (though more use of modular code - where you could select which bits you want, e. g. at install time - would help; however, including that functionality is extra effort, and with the price of storage [and memory, and processor power] these days, there's little [not no, if they have any pride!] incentive to do it that way these days). To me, bloat would be more and more inefficient program code. I think that's a lost battle, for all but the smallest functions: not only do feature-packed "compilers" (or "graphic program construction aids" or whatever the current phrase is) make it _easier_ (and, probably thus, quicker) to produce code, but also the general complexity of much of the computing environment means that they're close to being necessary. Like you, I mourn the disappearance of efficient code, and still admire small code when I see it: the installer for IrfanView is still only slightly bigger than a floppy for example! (My favourite - though I think it dates from '95 or earlier - is a flames simulator, that still works up to XP [though I think not 7], that is 453 bytes. Yes, bytes!) [] I found both readers in a search for a free PDF printer driver so I could create PDF files using the print routine, which is standard in OS X. I find pdf995 does it for me; OK, their mini-browser pops up, but doesn't get anything as my firewall has a rule for it, and that doesn't stop it working. My employer use it too (I presume they've got the paid version, as it doesn't show ad.s - the free one probably isn't for commercial use anyway, many such aren't), and it works fine there too. (Plenty of pdf "printers" exist though - it gets discussed here from time to time. Many of them use ghostscript, which sometimes has to be fetched and installed separately - pdf995 certainly makes you get something extra before it'll work [possibly install, I can't remember], though I think they don't tell you that it's ghostscript.) -- J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf # 10^-12 boos = 1 picoboo # 2*10^3 mockingbirds = 2 kilo mockingbird # 10^21 piccolos = 1 gigolo # 10^12 microphones = 1 megaphone # 10**9 questions = 1 gigawhat |
#14
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What is your favorite PDF reader?
On 4/18/14 3:55 AM, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
In message , Ken Springer writes: [] I've been sitting here wondering, just what is the definition of bloat, and do all people think bloat is the same thing. A trip to Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_bloat, confirms that it can mean different things to different people. I'm thinking your definition is the one where features are added that you have no use for. But there I think that's the current most widely-used definition. will be others who want those features. That type of bloat is a given, I think, as computers and software evolve into more powerful products. There's no way to avoid that. Agreed (though more use of modular code - where you could select which bits you want, e. g. at install time - would help; however, including that functionality is extra effort, and with the price of storage [and memory, and processor power] these days, there's little [not no, if they have any pride!] incentive to do it that way these days). To me, bloat would be more and more inefficient program code. I think that's a lost battle, for all but the smallest functions: not only do feature-packed "compilers" (or "graphic program construction aids" or whatever the current phrase is) make it _easier_ (and, probably thus, quicker) to produce code, but also the general complexity of much of the computing environment means that they're close to being necessary. Like you, I mourn the disappearance of efficient code, and still admire small code when I see it: the installer for IrfanView is still only slightly bigger than a floppy for example! (My favourite - though I think it dates from '95 or earlier - is a flames simulator, that still works up to XP [though I think not 7], that is 453 bytes. Yes, bytes!) [] I found both readers in a search for a free PDF printer driver so I could create PDF files using the print routine, which is standard in OS X. I find pdf995 does it for me; OK, their mini-browser pops up, but doesn't get anything as my firewall has a rule for it, and that doesn't stop it working. My employer use it too (I presume they've got the paid version, as it doesn't show ad.s - the free one probably isn't for commercial use anyway, many such aren't), and it works fine there too. (Plenty of pdf "printers" exist though - it gets discussed here from time to time. Many of them use ghostscript, which sometimes has to be fetched and installed separately - pdf995 certainly makes you get something extra before it'll work [possibly install, I can't remember], though I think they don't tell you that it's ghostscript.) I've found one potential issue with the Nitro3 PDF reader's printer driver. It may have a problem properly kerning fonts. But I've only printed a select section of Windows 7 help files, nothing else. So the problem could be buried in those help files. -- Ken Mac OS X 10.8.5 Firefox 25.0 Thunderbird 24.3.0 "My brain is like lightning, a quick flash and it's gone!" |
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