Sub for Adobe for reading PDFs?

K

KenK

I don't care for Adobe. Any suggestions for a free PDF reader to replace
it? Evidently, my old XP Home is getting too clogged to run Adobe at a
reasonable speed. Takes forever to display each page.

TIA
 
C

casey.o

Ditto. I also think Foxit Reader is considerably better than Adobe
Reader.
Click to expand...

On XP, I use Foxit and like it. The older versions of foxit, made for
Win98, tended to lockup, or just refused to load the PDF file, yet it
got stuck in the system, which meant rebooting. I went back to Adobe
(version made for Win98), becaue Foxit caused too many problems. But
the versions for XP seem to work well. Adobe reader is too damn slow
and bloated. But all Adobe stuff is bloated!
 
M

Mayayana

I use Sumatra. I don't know if it's the best. There's
a reason I stopped using Foxit, but I don't remember
what it was. Sumatra has source code available, which
allowed me to remove all restrictions and recompile,
which is nice.

Every once in awhile I come across a
PDF that won't let me convert it to text, which is a
pain. I find TXT far more easy to read than PDF format.
With my own version of Sumatra I don't have to
worry about such problems.

|I don't care for Adobe. Any suggestions for a free PDF reader to replace
| it? Evidently, my old XP Home is getting too clogged to run Adobe at a
| reasonable speed. Takes forever to display each page.
|
| TIA
|
|
| --
| "Where there's smoke there's toast!" Anon
|
|
|
|
|
 
V

VanguardLH

Bruce said:
Foxit Reader
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/Secure_PDF_Reader/
Click to expand...

Doesn't the free version show a third of its screen as an ad? That is,
isn't it adware-shoved-in-your-face? PDF-Xchange Free is adware, too,
but doesn't shove the ads in your face. In fact, if you don't even want
to see the lures to move to their payware Pro then there's a config
option to remove the menu entries that result in prompting you to get
the Pro version.

http://screenshots.en.sftcdn.net/en/scrn/38000/38341/foxit-reader-3.jpg

Did they get rid of or hide their attempt to share PDFs with needy users
at social network sites (i.e., Facebook, Twitter) with their OnDemand
CMS?

PDF-Xchange Viewer has OCR included in the free version along with a
typewriter mode to verify characters in scans. For Foxit, you had to
upgrade to the entry-level commercial PhantomPDF. Has that changed?
Personally I've never cared for OCR and found it more work than it is
worth but then I'm not much into modifying PDFs created by other
authors.
Google Chrome will be offered during the download. Just uncheck the box when
you see it.
Click to expand...

Guess they changed from pushing the Ask toolbar. Did they also
discontinue attempting to change your home page or do you still have to
deselect that wonderful suggestion?

This is one of those questions that typically elicit responses where
what you find out is what someone picked for themself, not a good
comparison of the top 5 or 10 contenders. Most polls show that
PDF-Xchange leads FoxIt by a huge margin but, again, this reflects their
bias in making usually a single choice and the voting is not by a
populace that have trialed multiple candidates. It's been way too long
(maybe 2.5 years) since I trialed several free PDF viewer apps but do
recall back then that PDF-XChange was the best choice ... for me. It
can be more difficult to use if you don't like menus and instead want
tabbed ribbon bars to lead you around.

Sure would be nice if there was a feature-by-feature comparison chart
that detailed each feature in each product to note which ones had the
same feature, which did not, and perhaps notes on how a similar feature
might be a bit different in one product than another.
 
B

Bruce Hagen

VanguardLH said:
Doesn't the free version show a third of its screen as an ad? That is,
isn't it adware-shoved-in-your-face? PDF-Xchange Free is adware, too,
but doesn't shove the ads in your face. In fact, if you don't even want
to see the lures to move to their payware Pro then there's a config
option to remove the menu entries that result in prompting you to get
the Pro version.

http://screenshots.en.sftcdn.net/en/scrn/38000/38341/foxit-reader-3.jpg

Did they get rid of or hide their attempt to share PDFs with needy users
at social network sites (i.e., Facebook, Twitter) with their OnDemand
CMS?

PDF-Xchange Viewer has OCR included in the free version along with a
typewriter mode to verify characters in scans. For Foxit, you had to
upgrade to the entry-level commercial PhantomPDF. Has that changed?
Personally I've never cared for OCR and found it more work than it is
worth but then I'm not much into modifying PDFs created by other
authors.


Guess they changed from pushing the Ask toolbar. Did they also
discontinue attempting to change your home page or do you still have to
deselect that wonderful suggestion?

This is one of those questions that typically elicit responses where
what you find out is what someone picked for themself, not a good
comparison of the top 5 or 10 contenders. Most polls show that
PDF-Xchange leads FoxIt by a huge margin but, again, this reflects their
bias in making usually a single choice and the voting is not by a
populace that have trialed multiple candidates. It's been way too long
(maybe 2.5 years) since I trialed several free PDF viewer apps but do
recall back then that PDF-XChange was the best choice ... for me. It
can be more difficult to use if you don't like menus and instead want
tabbed ribbon bars to lead you around.

Sure would be nice if there was a feature-by-feature comparison chart
that detailed each feature in each product to note which ones had the
same feature, which did not, and perhaps notes on how a similar feature
might be a bit different in one product than another.
Click to expand...



I only see the ads if I open Foxit with nothing else. As a reader, all you
see is the PDF file. No home page issue that I am aware of. Since I just use
it as a reader, I don't see any of the other issues you mention.

I'll have to take a look at PDF-Xchange. It may be better, but any reader is
better than Adobe.
 
B

BillW50

I only see the ads if I open Foxit with nothing else. As a reader, all
you see is the PDF file. No home page issue that I am aware of. Since
I just use it as a reader, I don't see any of the other issues you
mention.
Click to expand...

What version of Foxit are you two running? I have ran Foxit for many
years and I never saw an ad. Is this something new in newer versions?
 
B

Bruce Hagen

BillW50 said:
What version of Foxit are you two running? I have ran Foxit for many
years and I never saw an ad. Is this something new in newer versions?
Click to expand...


6.1.4.0217 It only shows ads for Foxit programs.
 
P

Paul

KenK said:
I don't care for Adobe. Any suggestions for a free PDF reader to replace
it? Evidently, my old XP Home is getting too clogged to run Adobe at a
reasonable speed. Takes forever to display each page.

TIA
Click to expand...

Take a look in the Acrobat Reader preferences.

In "Search", click "Purge cache contents".

Under Javascript, disable Javascript interpreting by unticking
any box that would enable it. (This is a safety, not a performance
setting.) Some websites offer PDFs, with malware stored as
javascript inside the document. Unticking the box in Acrobat,
is to prevent that from happening. Only script-kiddies would
try this, but I've seen malicious docs a few times here. Many AV
scanner real-time protections, will likely search for this as well.
Disabling in Acrobat, makes me feel better :)

Acrobat uses a page cache, so flipping back and forth between
pages, does not require re-rendering. Make sure your page cache
is enabled. The page cache tick box is under "Startup".

Paul
 
B

BillW50

Bruce Hagen said:
6.1.4.0217 It only shows ads for Foxit programs.
Click to expand...

6.0.2.0413 here. Oh those two Foxit PhantomPDF recommendations? That is
what VanguardLH is worried about?
 
V

VanguardLH

Bruce said:
any reader is better than Adobe.
Click to expand...

I take such statements with a large grain of salt. They reek of bias
with no evidence. When I selected PDF-XChange in my prior trials of PDF
viewers, it was because it had better security than Adobe's Reader. I
could disable Javascript in PDFs (something that I've only encountered
in intra-company generated PDFs). I could disable running a "launch"
command stored in the PDF file when it was loaded in the viewer (which
wasn't only to launch an .exe but could be a filetype that some other
handler had to load). I could restrict attachments to PDFs (yep, they
can have attachments) to allow only .pdf files and no other filetype.
Didn't have those security options in Adobe Reader until, I think,
version X (10). Adobe Reader now has similar security options plus it
has its sandbox in which to load PDFs. Yes, Adobe Reader is obviously
more targeted by hackers looking for vulnerabilities but that itself
doesn't render other PDF viewers as more secure, just less targeted.
Overall, it appears Adobe Reader's security is better than the other
free alternatives.

I haven't bothered yet to look at the disk and memory footprints for
Adobe Reader versus PDF-Xchange. I do recall when there was a
discussion about Nitro PDF that I looked at it and, geezus, was it a
pig, and slow, and lacking.

An item that bothers some folks is whether a PDF viewer requires the use
of Ghostscript (to support the Postcript conversion). Well, either you
can include a library from which you can call functions or issue a
command via CLI or you roll it into the .exe to bloat it. The only
issue I have with Ghostscript is whether a PDF viewer app wants to
install a global instance of it (that all programs access when they want
to issue Ghostscript commands) or if it installs a private instance in a
subfolder in the folder where the PDF viewer got installed (so only that
app uses that instance of Ghostscript). The latter addresses separation
of different versions of Ghostscript upon which a viewer app relies.
Later versions may drop some functions, change syntax, add or remove
arguments, or otherwise change behavior in Ghostscript from what the app
expects. This is like the old DLL Hell problem where programs were
dumping their DLLs into the same Windows subfolder. The cure was to
separate the DLLs and works, too, for keeping separate different
versions of similar supporting software.

PDF-Xchange includes a private install of Ghostscript. As I recall,
PDFCreator did a global install of Ghostscript (so it could affect every
other program that used that Ghostscript). I don't have Foxit Reader
installed but someone that does (you) could check if there was a global
or private install of Ghostscript for it or if it use a proprietary
library of Postscript functions.
 
B

Bruce Hagen

VanguardLH said:
I take such statements with a large grain of salt. They reek of bias
with no evidence. When I selected PDF-XChange in my prior trials of PDF
viewers, it was because it had better security than Adobe's Reader. I
could disable Javascript in PDFs (something that I've only encountered
in intra-company generated PDFs). I could disable running a "launch"
command stored in the PDF file when it was loaded in the viewer (which
wasn't only to launch an .exe but could be a filetype that some other
handler had to load). I could restrict attachments to PDFs (yep, they
can have attachments) to allow only .pdf files and no other filetype.
Didn't have those security options in Adobe Reader until, I think,
version X (10). Adobe Reader now has similar security options plus it
has its sandbox in which to load PDFs. Yes, Adobe Reader is obviously
more targeted by hackers looking for vulnerabilities but that itself
doesn't render other PDF viewers as more secure, just less targeted.
Overall, it appears Adobe Reader's security is better than the other
free alternatives.

I haven't bothered yet to look at the disk and memory footprints for
Adobe Reader versus PDF-Xchange. I do recall when there was a
discussion about Nitro PDF that I looked at it and, geezus, was it a
pig, and slow, and lacking.

An item that bothers some folks is whether a PDF viewer requires the use
of Ghostscript (to support the Postcript conversion). Well, either you
can include a library from which you can call functions or issue a
command via CLI or you roll it into the .exe to bloat it. The only
issue I have with Ghostscript is whether a PDF viewer app wants to
install a global instance of it (that all programs access when they want
to issue Ghostscript commands) or if it installs a private instance in a
subfolder in the folder where the PDF viewer got installed (so only that
app uses that instance of Ghostscript). The latter addresses separation
of different versions of Ghostscript upon which a viewer app relies.
Later versions may drop some functions, change syntax, add or remove
arguments, or otherwise change behavior in Ghostscript from what the app
expects. This is like the old DLL Hell problem where programs were
dumping their DLLs into the same Windows subfolder. The cure was to
separate the DLLs and works, too, for keeping separate different
versions of similar supporting software.

PDF-Xchange includes a private install of Ghostscript. As I recall,
PDFCreator did a global install of Ghostscript (so it could affect every
other program that used that Ghostscript). I don't have Foxit Reader
installed but someone that does (you) could check if there was a global
or private install of Ghostscript for it or if it use a proprietary
library of Postscript functions.
Click to expand...


My main reason fro getting rid of Adobe years ago was that even though you
shouldn't have had to, updates would not install unless you removed the
current version first. I don't know about Ghostscript.
 
G

GS

KenK formulated on Friday :
I don't care for Adobe. Any suggestions for a free PDF reader to replace
it? Evidently, my old XP Home is getting too clogged to run Adobe at a
reasonable speed. Takes forever to display each page.

TIA
Click to expand...

I use Sumatra also! It has both installed version and portable version.
I have the installed version set as my default reader.

Besides the fact that Sumatra has excellent performance, it also
remembers where I left off reading when reopening files!

--
Garry

Free usenet access at http://www.eternal-september.org
ClassicVB Users Regroup!
comp.lang.basic.visual.misc
microsoft.public.vb.general.discussion
 
B

BillW50

BillW50 said:
6.0.2.0413 here. Oh those two Foxit PhantomPDF recommendations? That
is what VanguardLH is worried about?
Click to expand...

File
Preferences
General
Application Startup
Show Advertisement (unchecked)

No Ads
 
B

BillW50

GS said:
KenK formulated on Friday :

I use Sumatra also! It has both installed version and portable
version. I have the installed version set as my default reader.

Besides the fact that Sumatra has excellent performance, it also
remembers where I left off reading when reopening files!
Click to expand...

Wow! That is what I like about Foxit too. You can even close that PDF
and open others and years later reopen that first one and it still
remembers where you left off.
 
G

GS

BillW50 presented the following explanation :
Wow! That is what I like about Foxit too. You can even close that PDF and
open others and years later reopen that first one and it still remembers
where you left off.
Click to expand...

I've had Foxit for some years but couldn't justify its weight nor
lengthy startup. Also, it's not portable (AFAIK)!

--
Garry

Free usenet access at http://www.eternal-september.org
ClassicVB Users Regroup!
comp.lang.basic.visual.misc
microsoft.public.vb.general.discussion
 
V

VanguardLH

BillW50 said:
File
Preferences
General
Application Startup
Show Advertisement (unchecked)

No Ads
Click to expand...

Note the difference between identifying the ads and being worried about
them. Some users don't want ads in their face but don't mind them
buried elsewhere in the product. Thanks for the info on an option that
removes the ads. Nice to know.
 
V

VanguardLH

Bruce said:
My main reason fro getting rid of Adobe years ago was that even though you
shouldn't have had to, updates would not install unless you removed the
current version first. I don't know about Ghostscript.
Click to expand...

You could simply search on "ghostscript" or "gs" in the file system.
Usually the folder is named "gs" (or "gs<ver>" where <ver> is the
version number). If it's a global install then it's under something
like c:\program files\gs. For private installs (usable only by the
product that uses it) then it's in a subfolder (also "gs") under that
program's installation folder. If you cannot find ghostscript on your
host then the Foxit Reader likely has its own proprietary Postscript
libs which could be separate .dll files or have those rolled inside the
..exe file.

I tried an online search on "foxit ghostscript" but nothing popped up
indicating if Foxit Reader uses Ghostscript or not.
 

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