Adobe has released the tenth major version of its well-known PDF viewer, Adobe Reader. Adobe Reader X shares the same ‘X’ branding as Adobe’s professional products, and remains the only PDF reader capable of working correctly with all PDF content, including forms and multimedia.

Version 10 adds wider support for multimedia content, including drawings, email messages, spreadsheets and video. Two new note-taking tools – Sticky Notes and Highlighter – have also been added for providing feedback on PDF documents – these features have long been a staple of competing products, and are long overdue here.

The Reading Mode can now be configured to either fit more content on-screen or switch to two-up mode for viewing page spreads – perfect for those with widescreen displays. There’s also a new “Protected Mode” that allows you to view PDF files in greater security – essential if you don’t know the origins of the PDF file you’re currently viewing.

Adobe Reader X also ties in directly with online services at Acrobat.com – if you have an Adobe account you can now create PDF files directly within the program through this service. Sadly it’s not free: up to five PDFs can be created before you have to subscribe to one of its services. Other online services include the ability to safely store and share documents as well as screen sharing.

At present, Adobe Reader X is available for PCs running Windows XP SP2 or later, or Mac OS X 10.5 or later (with Intel chip).