Free PDF reader more secure than Adobe

352249_what_u_looking_for_1UPDATED: When I originally wrote this article, my only concern was finding a PDF reader that wouldn’t crash my browser when I opened PDF documents in it. But since then, I’ve learned how many computer Trojans and viruses use Adobe Acrobat’s free PDF reader to exploit and take over your computer. Adobe has a reputation for not releasing security patches and updates quickly enough to protect users. Using Foxit, or any other free PDF reader, reduces the chances your computer will get exploited. And while you’re at it, make sure you’ve got some sort of free virus protection.

I hate reading PDFs in my browser because it usually freezes until the whole thing downloads and is just a miserable experience in general, so I save the pdf file to read in a stand-alone application. Acrobat reader generally sucks — when it takes longer to launch the application than it does to read the PDF, you know there’s a problem — so I am now using an alternative called Foxit Reader. It’s small, it launches very quickly, and it lets me do what I need to do — read the freaking document.

Oh, and it’s free!

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