Nuance [1] announced this week that they had introduced a new PDF Reader [2] as an alternative to the Acrobat Reader. Both products are free, so why would you be inclined to switch? Nuance offers a few key, new features:

• While it's fully compatible and capable of reading any PDF, the Nuance product is lighter weight than the Acrobat Reader, which tends to be on the bloated side. 
• Nuance claims their product is more secure. According to Nuance, "The Nuance reader addresses a troubling PDF security issue found within some readers by turning off JavaScript processing by default--something Adobe does not address. A recent McAfee Labs report [3] predicted Adobe would overtake Microsoft as the primary target for hackers and virus writers in 2010."
• Finally, a key new feature is the ability to convert any PDF document into a Microsoft Office document for free on NuancePDF.com [4].

The new tool also includes basic annotation tools, but only the ability to highlight and cross out text. Inexplicably, it doesn't include a commenting tool, which is a major limitation for document reviewers. It's worth noting, to get any annotation ability in Acrobat Reader, you have to use the full version of Acrobat Pro and add annotation features on a per-document basis for a given list of reviewers who can then edit the document in Adobe Reader.

The new Nuance PDF Reader is definitely worth checking out. The new features remove some of the annoyances about using the Acrobat Reader, while at the same time providing some higher-end advanced services at no charge to the user. But it doesn't include all of the features you may be looking for, so you have to decide if it's worth the trade-off.

For more information:
- see the Nuance press release [5]

Related Articles:
Adobe ranks second on buggiest software list [6]
Nuance buys eCopy [7]
Manage mixed-media documents with eCopy PaperWorks [8]
Nuance releases PDF Converter 6 [9]
Adobe enhances Acrobat.com [10]