- Quick specs
- Price: Free
- Operating system: Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP/NT
- Date added: February 06, 2007
- Total Downloads: 1,494,521
- Downloads last week: 12,322
- See full specifications
A newer version of Foxit PDF Reader is available.
(Download doesn't provide access to previous versions of this program.)
- CNET editors' rating: stars
- Average user rating: stars out of 889 votes
See all user reviews
CNET editors' review
Reviewed by: CNET Staff
To put it gently, Adobe Reader is a real pain in the hindquarters.
It's monstrously large, slow to load, and includes many features most users will hardly ever need. Foxit PDF Reader 2.0 omits these widgets and throws in some neat features, such as annotation tools, while still allowing you to read PDF documents.
The interface mimics Adobe's, so you won't have to change your reading habits. In our test, the text readability wasn't much inferior to Acrobat's. The 1.6MB program starts surprisingly fast compared to Acrobat. You might need to fiddle a bit to get it to work with your Internet browser, but you can find help on Foxit's support forums. It's a nice touch that it opens PDFs from the Internet in their own Foxit window, instead of sucking resources from within the browser.
Foxit's biggest flaw in the old version was hogging memory and that has been corrected. We did find it incredibly irritating that URL hyperlinks were unclickable, and that some features were secretly blocked in the evaluation copy.
Publisher's description
From Foxit Software :Foxit PDF Reader is an alternative viewer/reader for PDF documents. Foxit PDF Reader is only 1.5MB to download and doesn't need lengthy installation (just download, unzip, and run). It works with all types of PDF documents you might have, with high display quality. It supports different languages, including most Asian languages. You can zoom in/out or rotate page display, copy text information to other applications, search text in PDF documents, or print PDF documents.
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User reviews of Foxit PDF Reader 2 build 1316
- Average user rating: 4.3 stars out of 889 votes
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
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Showing 5 of 71 user reviewsSee all 71 user reviews
This software version | All versions -
22 out of 27 people found this review helpful
Version: Foxit PDF Reader 2 build 1316
Pros: 1)Quick dLo & install (only the parts that you want) 2)Loads & updates quick (including what you didn't want before) 3)Looks like Adobe, so switching is easy 4)EASY on ram and doesn't push the "pay-for" additions...good bye Adobe!!!
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5 out of 14 people found this review helpful
Version: Foxit PDF Reader 2 build 1316
"Good, free alternative for PDF viewing, but with limitations."
Pros: Tiny download thats easy to install and use. It is very light on system resources. Works well in most PDF format documents. Decent range of viewing and some printing options. You can scale documents to fit. It's free and runs OK with "Vista" but it lacks features and capabilities found in "Adobe Reader".
Cons: It has issues with some documents displaying and, or printing. This is especially true with documents containing large and complex graphics. I find this a decent alternative to "Adobe Reader" for those who only use PDF formatted documents occasionally. I prefer "Adobe Acrobat Pro" but it's not free. And for those who use PDF formatted documents more often, the free "Adobe Reader" is a more well rounded application. Especially if you use "Windows Vista".
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9 out of 10 people found this review helpful
Version: Foxit PDF Reader 2 build 1316
Pros: The best alternative to Adobe Reader 8. This software is also FREE and it don't take long to install...fast, has a user friendly interface, doesn't crash my PC and light on my system resources.
No wonder why this software has a HIGH RATE!
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Version: Foxit PDF Reader 2 build 1316
"Excellent replacement for Adobe Reader"
Pros: Fast, doesn't use much memory.
Loads a PDF file much faster then Adobe Reader does.
It's freeware.
Starts up fast and loads files even faster.
Cons: None that I can think of.
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8 out of 11 people found this review helpful
Version: Foxit PDF Reader 2 build 1316
Pros: Tiny download, fast and simple install, and very quick to launch and load. Adobe Reader is a 20 meg download, Foxit is less than 2. On my PC, Adobe Reader is 117 meg installed, while Foxit is a little over 7.
The editor's review says URL hyperlinks are "unclickable", which isn't accurate. They are (but see below).
Foxit does not have all the bells and whistles of Adobe Reader, and it has some real flaws that should be considered (see below). Try it out, though, and you might find that its speed and size make up for its shortcomings.
Cons: I have a number of PDFs that Foxit fails to render properly. The problems range from minor variations in fonts or graphics to actually blacking out some of the text. Be sure to check Foxit out thoroughly before you dump Adobe Reader.
Won't open in a Firefox tab (which doesn't bother me, but might annoy some people).
Clicking URL hyperlinks always brings up an annoying confirmation dialog box that cannot be defeated or turned off in the setup.
- See all 71 user reviews Write review
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