Adobe Acrobat Reader is free software that lets you view and print Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files.

Adobe PDF is the open standard for worldwide electronic document distribution. Documents converted into PDF format preserve all the formatting, colours and graphics of the original document, regardless of the application or platform used to create it.

The PDF format is the workflow standard for the publishing industry, and is increasingly being used in financial services, regulated industries and governments.

With Adobe Acrobat Reader you can also complete and submit PDF forms online, a handy tool as more and more companies begin to embrace the technology.

If you wish to create your own PDF files, this can be done using Adobe Acrobat.

The latest Adobe Reader 8 ships with a brand new interface, new tools, and more options for basic PDF viewing and comment-making.

Note the download here is for Windows XP and Windows Vista users only.