Think of PDF files and the first program that springs to mind is likely to be Adobe Reader. While this is a perfectly capable program, recent versions have come in for criticism for being large and slow, making them unsuitable for anyone running an older computer or a lower sec netbook.

SumatraPDF is a lightweight PDF reader which makes scant use of system resources and can even be run from a USB drive. The program offers faithful reproduction of PDF files and includes all of the features you would expect to find – a search facility, page navigation, zooming and more.

There are a variety of different views available and a rotate option is available for PDFs that have not been correctly configured. With the ability to save PDFs as text files and email files directly from within the programs, Sumatra PDF has all of the basic covered, but it does not offer some of the more advanced features found in alternative titles.

If you’re looking for a PDF reader that focuses on speed rather than features, Sumatra PDF is the tool for you. While the program could hardly be described as feature-packed, it is often the case that you simply need to open a PDF rather than doing anything more exotic with it – and Sumatra PDF is perfect for this.

Note that this is the portable version of Sumatra PDF.