Featured Freeware: PDF Download

The problem with opening PDF files in Firefox is that it tends to slow down your performance, especially if you open a number of them. This simple little extension gives you complete control over PDF files in a Toolbar button.

Rather than stick you all alone with a browser-jarring PDF file, the PDF Download extension provides you the option to: download the file locally, open it with Firefox using the PDF download options settings, view the PDF as an HTML file in the browser, bypass PDF Download, or cancel the link. The first two options are self-explanatory, while the "view as HTML" feature works a bit like Google's own version of the feature, speeding load times while largely abandoning formatting. The dialog box also displays the size of the target PDF file, which can help in deciding which option to choose.

The latest updates adds one incredible feature, in addition to the bug fixes. Users can now convert the Web page they're looking at into a PDF, complete with hyperlinks. It doesn't like pages with embedded content, changing Flash videos, for example, into links back to Adobe. But even with that limitation, the former Web page looks fine as a PDF. The plug-in now supports Firefox 3 and its social networking branch, Flock. PDF Download isn't fancy for an extension that bills itself as "one of the most popular Firefox add-ons ever," but it could be a big help for journalists, government workers, and others who spend considerable time with PDFs.