Like we all know full version of Adobe Reader is way too sluggish with the unnecessary plugins. Not to mention, it also takes huge chunk of system memory.

Granted, there is Adobe Reader Lite, a lighter version of Adobe Reader. However when it is compared to other free alternatives, its performance is still lagging with the space consumption is relatively large.


Anyway here is a list of great alternatives to Adobe Reader and the best thing about these applications is they are all FREE.

1. Foxit Reader

Foxit Reader is small in size (approximately 3.5 MB) but features almost everything Adobe Acrobat Reader has. This FREE PDF viewer allows users to view and print out their PDF documents. PDF documents can be opened at lightning speed and users can convert PDF document to its original document. It works well with Windows Me/2000/XP/2003/Vista.

Note: I have been using this software for a long time.

Download Foxit Reader

2. Cool PDF Reader

I bet this is the smallest PDF reader with only 600 KB++ in size and it is reflected on its simple installation. Cool PDF Reader can do common PDF reader job; view, print ect. Interestingly it can also convert PDF files to other extension such as TXT, JPG, BMP, GIF, WMF, PNG and EPS. It works in 68 different languages and supports all version of PDF files.

Download Cool PDF Reader

3. PDFescape

No installation required. Seriously, all you need is only a browser. PDFescape is a new way to open PDF files and escape from the typical software requirements for using the de facto document file format. With PDFescape, you can fill in PDF forms, add text and graphics, add links, and even add new form fields to a PDF file.

Download PDFescape

4. PDF Hammer

PDF Hammer is another Free online PDF application. It functions as a reader and also allows users to edit PDF documents. Users can combine or merge PDF documents together, reorder, rearrange and delete pages. You can also lock your PDF files with password-based security and edit or add document information fields including author, subject, title and keywords.

5. Perfect PDF Reader

Perfect PDF Reader is a free download and it runs on both 32and 64 bits Windows platforms. The Visual C++ 2008 runtimes are required for it to function properly and it can be downloaded during installation. Basically there are three views to choose from - reading view, standard and a full screen reading. With Perfect PDF extraction of images and text is made easy. Either type of element can be copied, selected and pasted elsewhere.

Download Perfect PDF Reader

6. Sumatra PDF

Sumatra has a minimalistic design. It is small and launches itself very fast. It is great for portable use because it is just a one file with no external dependencies. You should include this in your USB pen drive.

Download Sumatra PDF

7. PDF-XChange Viewer

This PDF viewer is is smaller, faster and more feature-rich than other available readers. You might be surprised just how quickly your large PDF files open and pages smoothly refresh as they are scrolled.

* Add comments and annotations to any PDF file
* Type directly on any PDF page
* Markup pages with text and objects
* Export PDF pages or entire files to BMP, JPEG, TIFF, PNG and more
* Make your navigation of large PDF files both simple and enjoyable with the Loupe and Pan tools
* Extract text from a PDF page or file

Download PDF XChange Viewer

Article source: blog.eches.net