Adobe Acrobat vs Foxit Reader


Adobe Acrobat Reader is a powerful but space and resource hogging application which few users are going to utilize to its fullest potential. But there is an alternative and even better it is free! Foxit Reader 2.0 works just as well as Adobe Acrobat but doesn’t have the ton of plugins to load which on older and slower systems could prove fatal. CyberNet Tech News has done a nice review of the new Foxit 2.0 Reader.

In case you are wondering, this program works beautifully with Firefox and even more so when paired with the PDF Download Extension (which works with Firefox 1.5.0.X, Firefox 2.0/Bon Echo & (developmental) Firefox 3 Gran Paradiso/Minefield. Here are the steps needed to integrate Foxit with Firefox’s PDF Download Extension:

  • Once PDF Download has been installed a new selection, “PDF Download - Options” will appear in your Tools Menu. Select this option.
  • On the ‘General Tab’, for Default Action, select ‘Open PDF
  • On the ‘PDF opening’ Tab, for the PDF File Opening, select ‘Use this viewer
  • Click ‘Browse’ in Windows Explorer locate the Foxit Reader (FoxitReader.exe) and click ‘OK’
  • Click ‘OK’ again to exit out of the PDF Download - Options.

Now whenever you come across a PDF File, Firefox will automatically load in the FoxIt Reader, a process which depending on your system speed with be nearly instant to a couple seconds. Note: Firefox downloads the PDF File in order to open it.


Update 09/23/07: Changed link to download page on FoxIt website

Download FoxIt Reader

26 Responses to “Adobe Acrobat vs Foxit Reader”


  1. 1 Sam Saturday, September 16, 2006 at 1:23 pm

    Is there an extension that will let me view .psd files?

  2. 2 Saawan Thursday, October 12, 2006 at 10:33 am

    Foxit reader rocks!!! thumbs down to Adobe Acrobat reader though I feel glad tht Adobe invented PDF format :D

  3. 3 Chris H Friday, October 13, 2006 at 2:35 am

    In some cases (’open link in new tab’ ;) the plugin sometimes is not activated. Go to Tools/Options/Downloads button ‘view & edit actions’, find pdf and set it to use Foxit as well.

    Unfortunately Foxit sometimes does not print a document as good as it shows it on screen, so i have to keep Adobe’s hog.

  4. 4 MagnoliaSouth Wednesday, February 14, 2007 at 7:29 pm

    Hmmm. I followed this tutorial, and what Chris H suggested as well. I still cannot get Foxit to open within Firefox. It opens, it just opens within Foxit’s own application window. Where the tutorial says “Firefox will automatically load in the FoxIt Reader,” does this mean that it will, in fact, open in it’s own application window? I ask because it already is a reader, so that can be taken a couple of ways.

    What mine is doing might be the intentional way of working, but I’m not sure.

  5. 5 Kapitän Rotbart Friday, March 16, 2007 at 9:23 am

    I’ll agree that Foxit PDF Reader is the best PDF reader for Windows. I can’t say I’m glad that Adobe conceived PDF… they still monopolize it. We could be using Envoy or Common Ground Digital Paper… provided we all agree on a given format, that’s what matters. Not only do PCs have Acrobat pre-installed, but they have the latest version installed. I needed to use Acrobat to read certain PDFs from my university for scholarships and tax forms, but I found an old version of Acrobat (v.5) and despite the fact that it’s bigger and slower than Foxit, it’s not nearly as big and slow as the later versions (6, 7 & 8).

    I still use Foxit for any other PDFs, and I recommend PrimoPDF as a PDF printer driver (it’s free and allows security parameters to be established).

    I still cannot get Foxit Reader to open within FireFox. I’ve managed all other combinations: Acrobat in IE, Acrobat in FF, Foxit in IE, but no Foxit in FF… the extension still would not allow me that possibility. Anyone know of a patch that could make it possible? It sure would be nice!

  6. 6 bryan Friday, March 23, 2007 at 7:01 am

    The latest Acrobat is so much better at loading, and so much better all round that I’ve now junked Foxit (which I never thought I’d say!).
    Version 8 I think - it’s far better than earlier ones…

  7. 7 CrimsonS Saturday, April 7, 2007 at 3:44 pm

    To answer MagnoliaSouth’s question: no, Foxit does not load within a firefox tab, it loads up fireit reader. The Foxit developpers say they are working to make it more compatible with fire fox.

    Source: http://lifehacker.com/software/productivity/download-of-the-day-foxit-pdf-reader-109741.php

    And who knows, maybe the firefox community will beat them to it and make a plugin.

    CrimsonS

  8. 8 Hasan Monday, April 23, 2007 at 2:20 pm

    Way late chiming in, but you actually don’t need the extension. Just go to Tools>Options (or Edit>Preferences on Mac and Linux)>Content>File Types>Manage>PDF>Change Action… and browse for Foxit_Reader.exe.

  9. 9 Ruby Friday, April 27, 2007 at 11:08 am

    This is just what I need, but it looks like it’s Windows-only. :-(

  10. 10 kevin Thursday, May 3, 2007 at 5:13 am

    I tried Hasan’s suggestion but can’t find pdf in the file types list. Is there any way for me to still get foxit to work in firefox?

  11. 11 Simon Tuesday, July 10, 2007 at 11:09 am

    So i’ve tried everything on this site, and everything on the PDF Download extension site, and still my pdf’s do not open WITHIN firefox. Each time, it opens up Foxit; no seamless browsing. Any suggestions?

  12. 12 Alwyn Friday, July 13, 2007 at 5:23 am

    Simon,

    here’s a link on how to do it. Just click my ‘website’.

  13. 13 Ramu Thursday, January 10, 2008 at 3:32 pm

    Plugin not needed. Hansen suggestion works.

  14. 14 Kapitän Rotbart Monday, February 11, 2008 at 5:55 am

    Unfortunate indeed that it’s Windows-only… but that is no longer an issue for me. Since the version of Gnome released in fall 2007, the Evince document viewer now handles forms, meaning I do not need Adobe Acrobat Reader anymore (despite Acrobat being available for Linux). In fact I no longer need Windows, nor any of its native applications, thanks to the applications available for Linux.

  15. 15 UHammerIT Sunday, April 27, 2008 at 5:30 am

    Capitalism Killed The FOXit reader

    And yet another one bites the dust.

    Foxit Reader is no longer a free product. O yeah, sure you can get a one year license for free if you buy something else (where they get 50% commission on the sales). Wonderful. I hardly blame them, they are developers and need money, but at least they could make their 2.0 version open source and continue with their commercial pro line.

    This truly and utterly sucks, as pre 2.0 versions do not understand the Firefox plugin concept.

    If I had a Hammer,
    I´d smash all injustice.

    Keywords: foxit not free anymore foxit reader no longer free gratis download

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