Why You Don't Need Adobe Reader (And What to Use Instead)

BY GAVIN PHILLIPSUPDATED DEC 01, 2020

Adobe Reader is bloated and slow. Here's why you don't need it and how to open PDF files without Adobe Reader.

Adobe Reader isn't just unnecessary. The PDF tool has a history of being an application you wouldn't want on your system. Adobe Reader carries a certain reputation from being heavy and sluggish to a long series of security flaws. For many users, Adobe Reader is simply overkill for reading PDF documents.

So, the question is, do you need Adobe Reader installed? Or, are there better Adobe Reader alternatives for reading PDFs?

What Is Adobe Reader?

Adobe Acrobat Reader is one of the most popular PDF readers. It comes in two main flavors: Free and Premium. The free version allows you to view, print, and annotate PDF files, while the premium version includes tools for editing, scanning, digital signing, and file conversion, among other options.

For most people, the advanced options available in Adobe Acrobat Pro (the premium version) are overkill. If you're just reading the occasional PDF or printing a document or form, your regular web browser can take care of business.

Is Adobe Acrobat Reader Safe?

Adobe Reader has a history of vulnerabilities, too. Security incidents in 2006, 2009, 2013, and 2016 required serious and immediate patching to remove critical vulnerabilities. Most of the vulnerabilities stem from JavaScript vulnerabilities in Adobe Reader, allowing an attacker to exploit the program to gain access to the host computer.

So, is Adobe Reader safe? If you keep Adobe Reader updated, then you should remain safe. Adobe pushes updates for its apps on the first Tuesday of every month (as part of Patch Tuesday, which many tech companies observe). Reading through the patch notes reveals that it isn't just Adobe Reader receiving critical updates; all Adobe products require a significant patch from time-to-time.

One thing you can do to increase your security is to adjust your Adobe Reader JavaScript settings.

Head to Edit > Preferences.
Select JavaScript from the Categories.
In the JavaScript Security window, edit the options for JavaScript management.

If you want to disable JavaScript completely, uncheck Enable Acrobat JavaScript.

How to Open PDFs in Your Browser

Adobe Acrobat Reader allows you to view and print PDFs. But your browser can do exactly the same without you having to download and install an extra program.

Google Chrome

Google Chrome has an integrated PDF viewer. It has been bundled with Google Chrome since 2010. It makes opening online PDFs extremely quick, loading directly in your browser. Unfortunately, Chrome's PDF viewer doesn't have many features. Or rather, it has basically none, unless rotating your PDFs is an absolute necessity.

However, it is fast. Additionally, Google Chrome is now the most popular browser worldwide, so there is a good chance you already have it installed.

Google Chrome can function as your default local PDF viewer, too. Right-click your PDF, and select Properties. Select Change, followed by Google Chrome. Then select Apply.

Please note that this process is the same for Firefox, Microsoft Edge, or any other PDF viewer you'd like to use as default.

Enable the New Google PDF Reader

As luck would have it, as I was updating this article, Google snuck out an update to the Chrome PDF viewer. You can enable the Chrome PDF reader update through the Chrome Flags page, a list of experimental browser features. Some of these features are in active development, while other options come and go.

Input chrome://flags in your Chrome address bar, search for #pdf-viewer-update, and switch to Enabled. You'll have to relaunch your browser before the new PDF reader loads.

So, what's new? The PDF reader update aims to bring Chrome's PDF reader up to the same standard as Mozilla Firefox's, adding support for document outlines and new view controls.

Mozilla Firefox

Like Google Chrome, Firefox has an integrated PDF viewer. In fact, Mozilla has bundled a PDF viewer since Firefox 19—we're now using Firefox 83. Who said Mozilla isn't innovative?! Firefox's PDF viewer comes with some handy features, too. For example, if you have a PDF with interactive fields, such as on a form, you can use the built-in PDF viewer to fill them in.

Firefox's PDF.js browser viewer is one of the best options around.

Microsoft Edge

Windows 10's native browser, Microsoft Edge, also includes an inbuilt PDF reader.

The Microsoft Edge PDF reader includes options for drawing and scribbling on your PDF using the Draw menu, as well as options to highlight and color text using the Highlight menu. There's also the option to have your PDF read aloud to you. You can use the Microsoft Edge PDF reader to fill in basic forms, though JavaScript forms are not supported at the time of writing.

What Happened to Microsoft Reader?

Microsoft Reader is no longer maintained and, as such, is not included in your Windows 10 installation. You can still download and use Reader via the Microsoft Store.

macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android

Other operating systems don't require Adobe Acrobat Reader, either. macOS users have Preview, while Linux distributions come bundled with Okular or Evince, depending on the environment. Android has a built-in PDF viewer, as does iOS.

While Adobe Reader is available to all of these operating systems, there isn't really a reason to use it. Not least because there are better free PDF options available for each OS.

The Best Adobe Reader Alternatives

If you're read enough and want to try a new PDF reader, check out the best PDF and eBook readers for Windows. The options on that list represent some of the best Adobe Reader alternatives available, with many options including similar functionality to Adobe Acrobat Pro.

Or, if you prefer something more lightweight, consider these very light alternatives to Adobe Reader. They deliver PDF functionality in a smaller package, taking up fewer system resources than the mainstream alternative.

What's Your Favorite PDF Viewer?

You've read why you don't really need Adobe Reader anymore. Between the internet browsers with inbuilt PDF viewers and the free PDF reader alternatives, you're well covered. As most PDFs are just documents meant for viewing in a specific format—that's what PDFs do, after all—most of the alternative PDF viewers on this list will deliver the same if not better experience.

13 Reasonable Alternatives to Adobe's Expensive Apps

Jumping into the full suite of Adobe’s Creative Cloud apps is an expensive proposition: a $53/month setback (as of this writing) that might be overkill for your needs unless you’re producing a lot of media across a variety of formats.

You can go piecemeal, of course, but you’ll still be paying quite a bit more than your typical monthly music subscription to edit photos/videos/audio/print pages/etc. And then there are the cancellation fees, which might come as an unanticipated shock if you’re trying to get out of an annual plan early.

Not to hate on Adobe, but if you’re looking for alternatives that cost less, cost nothing, or simply aren’t as bulky to work with as some of Adobe’s apps, I’ve got you covered. While nothing beats Photoshop, for example, there are plenty of cheaptools out there you can use to accomplish much of what the app lets you do. Dare I say it, these “lesser” apps might even be a better fit, as you don’t really need the tank of graphics-editing apps if you’re just doing a little cropping and color-correction from time to time.

I’ll be highlighting a bunch of alternative Adobe apps in this guide, but if you’re impatient, here’s the full list:

Affinity Photo [Adobe Photoshop]
Photopea / SumoPaint [Adobe Photoshop]
GIMP / Glimpse Image Editor [Adobe Photoshop]
Krita [Adobe Illustrator / Photoshop]
Inkscape [Adobe Illustrator]
Scribus [Adobe InDesign]
RawTherapee / Darktable [Adobe Lightroom]
PDF-XChange Editor [Adobe Acrobat]
DaVinci Resolve [Adobe Premiere]
Audacity [Adobe Audition]

David Murphy

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David Murphy is Lifehacker's Senior Technology Editor. He has geeked out writing for The New York Times, Wirecutter, PC Magazine, Reviewed, Computer Shopper, and PCWorld. www.thedavidmurphy.com

7 Free Microsoft Paint Alternatives

2017

Microsoft officially deprecated Paint in July 2017. Of course, the app hasn’t been updated since Windows 7 anyway, so it’s hardly news.

While it will remain available through the Windows Store, this really spells the end for MS Paint. Microsoft is now squarely focused on the new Paint 3D; there’s only so much time the old version of Paint can remain available until it becomes a liability.

Perhaps it’s time to start looking for free alternatives? Here are seven of the best for you to check out.

1. Paint.NET

Paint.NET started life as a student project back in 2004, but it’s since grown to become one of the best free image editors on the Windows operating system. If you’re only a light user, it’s even a valid alternative to full suites like Photoshop and GIMP.

15 Free Alternatives to Adobe Lightroom, Illustrator, and PhotoshopWould you like to get Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, or Illustrator for free? Here are some of the best Creative Cloud alternatives.Read More

If you’re coming from Microsoft Paint, one of the biggest things you’ll want is familiarity, and Paint.NET has it in abundance. The main screen looks very similar to the Microsoft app.

Dig a little deeper, however, and it’s packed with features that make the app shine.

They include Photoshop-esque layers, a vast number of special effects, unlimited undo/redo, an array of tools for drawing shapes, and most importantly for many users, near-endless plugins.

To give you an idea, the community-supported PDF document which lists all the plugins is 95 pages long! If that sounds too daunting, don’t worry. You can download packs of the most popular plugins that center around certain themes (e.g. extra brushes, colors, effects). Some even have installers.

Download: Paint.NET

2. IrfanView

If Paint.NET is too complicated and you’re looking for something more basic, IrfanView could be the tool for you.

Some of the headline features are almost identical to Microsoft Paint. The app has easy-to-draw shapes, tools for rotating, flipping and resizing images, and one-click buttons for converting images to greyscale and other color palettes.

IrfanView also offers some functionality that’s missing in Paint but which makes using the app easier and more enjoyable. For example, it has image previews, support for more file formats, and even the ability to open animated GIFs.

3 Best Tools to Make Free Animated GIFs on WindowsKeen to start creating your own GIFs? These tools will get you animated in no time.Read More

Lastly, professionals will still be able to rely on the app for tasks thanks to its support for Photoshop filters, batch conversion, and IPTC metadata.

A Quick Guide to Photoshop Filters and What They DoPhotoshop comes with a few dozen filters of its own and these are more than enough for amateurs and hobbyists. Here's a quick guide to what they do.Read More

Download: IrfanView

3. Pinta

If you’ve been paying attention, you will notice Pinta looks instantly familiar. Why? Because it’s based on the previously discussed Paint.NET.

The app is not quite as feature-laden as its inspiration, making it a better alternative for people who want the Microsoft Paint familiarity without all the extra pro-level features they’ll never use.

However, just because it’s not equal to Paint.NET, don’t write it off. Pinta supports layers, provides unlimited history, has 35 effects, and includes easy-to-use drawing tools.

Perhaps most interestingly, it takes a different approach to the workspace in front of you. You can pop out any window to make it float, and even use a combination of docked windows and floating windows to suit your needs.

Download: Pinta

4. Krita

Krita is geared towards digital artists. Specifically, the app is aimed at concept artists, illustrators, matte and texture artists, and people working in the visual effects industry. However, that doesn’t mean that it’s not also a great tool for people who want an alternative to Microsoft Paint.

If you choose to download it, you can enjoy a range of useful features that are absent in Paint. They include a quick color selector (just right-click on a color to pick it), brush stabilizers (perfect if you’re doing basic drawing with a mouse), and vector, filter, group, and file layers.

Krita also offers some of the best shape drawing tools. Thanks to its “Drawing Assistants,” you will be able to create the perfect ellipse, arrow, or fisheye every time.

Download: Krita

5. Photoscape

Photoscape is mainly focused on photo editing. If you use Microsoft Paint to edit and tweak snaps you have taken, it’s the perfect replacement.

Many of the tools it offers are photo-orientated and are absent on Paint. For example, you can easily combine multiple photos into one image or watch your photos in a slideshow. You can also convert images from the RAW format into JPEGs or splice your photos into multiple pieces.

As you would expect, it also has a comprehensive basic editor. You can use it to resize your image, adjust the brightness and color, change the white balance, correct the backlight, add text, draw pictures, add filters, remove red-eye, and more.

Lastly, Photoscape has a cool tool that lets you print lined, graph, music, and calendar paper using your images.

Download: Photoscape

6. Fotor

Fotor made its name as a cloud-based image editor, but these days you can download the software as a standalone Windows app that’ll work offline.

Like Photoscape, editing photos is Fotor’s bread and butter, but it also works well for editing screenshots and other images.

The app can make simple adjustments such as resizing and cropping, includes hundreds of free fonts, and offers a shape drawing tool. It also has some basic touch up tools.

The 8 Best Free Font Websites for Free Fonts OnlineNot everyone can afford a licensed font. These websites will help you find the perfect free font for your next project.Read More

Fotor is entirely free to download and use, but it’s also the only app on this list that offers a paid tier. For $3.33 per month, you get 100 new effects, a vast number of stickers and photo frames, professional-grade touch-up tools, and an ad-free experience.

Download: Fotor

7. Pixlr

If you’re not going to have Paint on your system anymore, why even bother to clutter your hard drive up with more junk?

You could use an online-only editor instead, and Pixlr is one of the best.

The design of Pixlr is more Photoshop-esque than Paint-esque. But, if you spend a bit of time learning how to use the app, you will quickly discover it’s one of the best Paint replacements available.

It has all the basics you’d expect, plus advanced features like smudging, blurring, layers, and a long list of filters and effects.

Of course, you should only consider Pixlr if you have a reliable web connection; it’s useless without one. You will also need to enable Flash for it to run.

Run: Pixlr

Originally posted here: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/microsoft-paint-alternatives/

Top 5 FREE Microsoft Office Alternatives

How to enable DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) in Google ChromeA step by step guide to enable DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH)

How to enable DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) in Google Chrome

A step by step guide to enable DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) support in the Firefox browser.

By Catalin Cimpanu for Zero Day | September 8, 2019 -- 22:49 GMT (15:49 PDT) | Topic: Security

You can now enable support for the privacy-focused DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) protocol in Google Chrome using a command-line argument.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-enable-dns-over-https-doh-in-google-chrome/

Alternative browsers

Sometimes it feels like there’s only room for four choices when it comes to web browsers on Windows: Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Internet Explorer. You’ll find some people running Opera, too, but for the most part it’s all about the big four.

Despite the seemingly small world of web browsers, there’s an entire alternative universe out there. All of them are fighting for your attention with unique features and specializations around new interface concepts, privacy, music, social media, and more.

If you’re looking to shake up your web-surfing experience, consider these 10 great browsers not named Firefox, Chrome, or Internet Explorer.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Opera Neon

Underpinnings: Blink rendering engine

Focus: Re-imagining the browser

Opera Neon debuted in early 2017 as an experiment in interface design and new browser features. Opera describes it as a proving ground “similar to the way concept cars predict the future of automobiles.” In fact, Opera released a new version of its mainstream browser in May that included some inspiration from Neon.

When you first open up Neon it’s clear this browser is not your typical tabs-at-the-top affair. In fact, you don’t even open new tabs in Neon the way you do in other browsers. To open a website you just start typing the URL or click on one of the “link bubbles.”

Opera Neon, just like the official Opera, uses Chrome’s Blink rendering engine.

Vivaldi

Underpinnings: Chromium

Focus: Power users

Vivaldi is a Chromium-based browser that targets hardcore power users. From the moment you install it, the browser helps you customize its look to suit your needs including color choices, tab position, and start page image. It’s a very simple browser at the moment that takes cues from current and former Opera features (Opera’s former CEO is leading the Vivaldi effort).

Vivaldi has a speed-dial feature for quick access to favorite sites, a built-in note-taking app, and a side panel for viewing a secondary webpage. Vivaldi also has some features that any power user will appreciate, such as mouse gestures and keyboard shortcuts, saved tab sessions, tab stacks, user interface scaling, and adaptive interface colors.

There were early dreams of a built-in mail client for Vivaldi, like several browsers of old, including Opera. So far, however, Vivaldi has only managed to provide its own brand of webmail.

As Vivaldi is built on Chromium, it is compatible with extensions from the Chrome Web Store.

Maxthon

Underpinnings: Trident and WebKit

Focus: Multi-device browsing and social

The biggest feature for Maxthon is its cloud-based account, called Passport, which syncs browsing data across your devices. That’s a common feature among the major players, but not as common in the world of alternative browsers. Passport also has a feature called Cloud Push that lets you share content with your friends via email or text message.

Maxthon comes with a built-in RSS reader, notepad, password manager, a virtual email mailbox service called UUMail, and AdBlock Plus. There’s also a “reader mode” to read articles more easily without all the distractions of a typical website.

Maxthon isn’t a single-engine browser, instead relying on both Trident (Internet Explorer) and WebKit (Safari). Maxthon uses WebKit by default, but will switch to Trident on the fly for older webpages that are friendlier towards Internet Explorer.

Torch

Underpinnings: Chromium

Focus: Media

Torch is a browser for media junkies with features for music and games. There’s a built-in YouTube-based streaming service called Torch Music. Torch Games gives you one-click access to a selection of web-based games. Torch also has some handy drag-and-drop sharing features: Drag web content to the left and you get a sidebar for sharing content on social networks, or drag content to the right to search for it.

Torch is also a media-pirate’s dream, with a built-in tool for downloading audio and video from sites like YouTube and Vimeo, as well as a built-in torrent client for...well, you know.

Epic Privacy Browser

Underpinnings: Chromium

Focus: Privacy

If you like Chrome but don’t like forking over all your info to Google and other advertisers, then Epic Privacy Browser may be for you.

The browser doesn’t deviate far from its Chrome-based roots, but it comes with a bunch of privacy-enhancing features like a built-in proxy, always-on private browsing, and built-in blockers for third-party cookies and trackers. It also has a built-in video downloading tool that shows up on video sites such as YouTube.

Epic ditches Google account integration, so don’t use this browser if you want to sync bookmarks and open browser tabs with Google’s servers.

Pale Moon

Underpinnings: Goanna (Gecko Fork)

Focus: Legacy Firefox

Do you miss the old Firefox? Not the old, old Firefox, but the interface before the current one, with the menu button in the upper-left corner? If so, Pale Moon is worth looking at.

Pale Moon was “forked” from the core Mozilla project with an initial release in 2009. Forked means they took the Firefox open source code and started iterating it separately from Mozilla.

The result is a browser that will be familiar to longtime Firefox users, though the two browsers are different now, especially under the hood. Pale Moon, for example, continues to support old-school add-ons as well as NPAPI plugins—that last bit is not necessarily a good thing.

Comodo Ice Dragon

Underpinnings: Gecko

Focus: Security

From security firm Comodo, IceDragon is another browser promising enhanced security. IceDragon’s security props include webpage scanning for malware, the use of Comodo’s Secure DNS service by default, and active blocking of known phishing and spyware sites.

As this is based on Firefox, IceDragon also comes with the Pocket add-on pre-installed. IceDragon lets you drag content from a webpage to the right to share it on social networks, and to the left to use that content as the basis of a web search.

It has also added a tablet mode that lets you switch to larger interface elements when surfing the web on a Windows touchscreen device.

Ghost Browser

Underpinnings: Chromium

Focus: Productivity

Ghost Browser is an interesting idea. It’s built with productivity in mind and let’s you create separate browser sessions inside the same window. That way you can have a set of tabs for your work accounts, and another for your personal ones. Each session has separate “cookie jars” so that you can remain logged in to multiple social media or email accounts at the same time in separate tabs. Each new session tab is automatically assigned a different color.

You can even go one level deeper and organize sites by “projects” that stash your tabs for you. That way you can do a social media project with all your various accounts open in different tabs, and then swap into your party-planning project with tabs open to email, list-making tools, calendars, and so on.

Ghost Browser is built on the freemium model. That is, it’s free to use, but features are limited. If you want a more robust browser you have to pay $10 to $15 a month.

The free version is still pretty good. You’re limited to three projects and three separate tab sessions per project. You can also only open one project at a time. Free users don’t get an incognito mode or separate user profiles either.

As Ghost Browser is built on Chromium it works with the Chrome Web Store.

Midori

Underpinnings: WebKit

Focus: Lightweight

Midori is a longstanding choice for underpowered Linux systems, but there’s also a Windows version for anyone who needs a lightweight browser.

Midori is pretty simple, lacking any major features and sporting an almost XP-like interface. On the upside, it’s responsive and very simple to use. There’s also a portable version if you want to run it from a USB stick.

Avant Browser

Underpinnings: Gecko, WebKit, Trident

Focus: Browser fanatics

Avant Browser features a “tri-core rendering engine.” Instead of choosing one popular browser engine it uses those of Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari.

Avant Browser has several interesting features including a “video sniffer” that helps you download videos from websites such as YouTube. An “always on top” feature makes sure that your tabs never get buried behind other desktop applications like Outlook, Microsoft Word, and Photoshop.

Avant’s interface is decidedly “Windows XP,” but if you can get past that, there all kinds of power-user features to satisfy most browser lovers.

That’s our look at the latest 10 alternative browsers that have caught our attention, but there are others just a quick Google search away.

Alternative browsers