When it comes to PDF readers, the abundance of free and competent titles suggests that the need for anymore is unnecessary. The Foxit PDF Reader is, however, slightly different.

With a download size of less than 2.5MB, Foxit is an extremely light and speedy PDF reader with an almost non-existent installation process.

This makes it extremely portable; just slip it on a USB key or CD and you can use it anywhere with little fuss.

Unlike many mainstream readers, Foxit is not resident on your PC so it doesn't sap anymore memory than it should. Obviously, this does mean fewer features but the simplicity and portability of the software easily makes up for this shortfall.

Note that this v2 release is much more than a PDF reader. Some of the new features include a form designer (but some of these features are evaluation only with this Reader Edition), enhanced zoom tools, spell-checker for PDF forms, an improved IE-plugin and much more.

The latest v2.3 ships with a host of new features, including support for audio/visual elements within your PDF document.