Foxit PDF Reader

Foxit PDF Reader the alternative multilingual PDF reader, packed full of useful features and notably quicker than its competitors. Foxit is a small program, so installation is hardly time consuming and opening documents is lightning quick, it also comes with a customizable sleek UI with toolbars which feature utilities such as search tool, zoom, text selection, rotate and more. With Foxit you have more control over how you view your documents, for example, if you only wish to view the text of the PDF file Foxit will remove all images leaving just text; there is also a full-screen mode and Foxit even has a text-to-speech feature that can read aloud your document which is especially useful for the visually impaired.

First released in 2004 by developers Foxit Corporation, it attracted attention for being able to do exactly what Adobe Reader does, only quicker and with less stress on PC resources. Over the years developers tweaked Foxit adding new features and streamlining the UI; v2.2 included support for word capturing, advanced search, bookmarks synchronization and multi-tab browsing enabling you to view multiple files in one window. Leading up to the latest version 5.0.x Foxit has become more advanced and more secure minus all the bugs which are evident in Adobe Reader. Version 5 supports comment tools so you can add annotations to documents, form filler, editing tools and new skins. Its security features include trust manager (safe mode viewing), digital signature verification platform and a security warning dialogue which warns users if the PDF attempts to run a harmful external command.

Foxit PDF Reader 2.0 is the last to support Windows 95/NT 4.0/98/ME. All versions of Foxit support Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7. Foxit is also compatible with Linux.

Foxit comes in basic and full versions which are both free to download. All Foxit versions are stable and run well, however a favored version of the Foxit reader in v3.1; under stress tests it comes out best and just works flawlessly without the need for many of all the new features in later versions.

Pros: Lightning fast, small installation file, packed full of useful features, secure.
Cons: Installs add-ons with latest version (Ask toolbar).