Foxit Reader has long been the most visible Windows alternative to Adobe Reader, but in the latest update this popular freeware falters. How far it's stumbled depends on how annoyed you get at installation shenanigans. Granted, there are some useful new features added, but where the jump from version 2 to version 3 cut bloat while adding in a few features, version 4 adds some new features while also throwing some unpleasant curveballs your way.

The setup process has grown more cumbersome, without a doubt. It automatically will check you into the Foxit license agreement, and users are also opted-in to the Foxit Search Bar which changes your default search provider to Ask and makes Ask.com your home page. On their own, these would be annoying enough, but users are also opted-in to the Foxit add-on for Firefox, and into creating desktop, quick launch, and Start menu icons that link to eBay. Obviously, that's a business model plan for Foxit, but the connection between Foxit and eBay is even more tenuous than Foxit and Ask.com.

Worst of all, in our tests it commandeered the default PDF reader setting even though we unchecked that box.

I dislike criticizing a company's business model, but forcing users to opt-out instead of opt-in combined with a surprisingly large number of pre-selected options, and it's hard not to conclude that the cumbersome installation unfairly burdens the program's otherwise reasonable features.

The interface is practically indistinguishable from the previous version. The toolbar still contains a lengthy row of icons. It's not a bad design, but it does look very Windows XP and might be overwhelming to some users. Nine months after the official launch of sales-ripping Windows 7 is too long to be ignoring the new paradigm. Thankfully, the toolbar is fully customizable, with a deep set of options. You can start tweaking the configurations by right-clicking on it.

There are some useful new features that should serve to remind users why alternatives to Adobe Reader are so valuable. In addition to the tabbed PDF reading, measuring tools, and auto-scrolling, it appears that Foxit has removed its demand that users install its toolbar before getting access to editing features, such as highlighting, commenting, hyperlink creation. There's a new text view feature that automatically lets you view a PDF as text-only, and watermark-free printing has been extended to users of the free edition.

Foxit does lack some notable options, such as PDF creation and drag-and-drop, and the persistent pestering to add features is annoying, even though some of the features that you can add to Foxit are free. For example, Foxit promotes an online collaborative system called OnDemandCM on the program's landing page when you open Foxit without loading a PDF. Once you install the add-on you'll be asked to register at the Foxit site, but using the service itself isn't free.

Over a half-day of use, Foxit's performance varied. Mostly it would open PDFs and maneuver within them easily; occasionally it would be sluggish and momentarily unresponsive. Foxit still remains lighter on your system resources than Adobe Reader, but given the improving performances of online and in-browser editing tools and the strong debut of the free Nitro PDF Reader, it's hard to recommend Foxit enthusiastically.

The World Cup is now down to the final eight. In the U.S., where soccer mostly flies under the radar, the success of the USA team brought out a huge number of fans, many of whom probably now have a new appreciation for soccer. With the U.S. out of the running, and only eight teams left, it will be sad to see the most popular tournament in the world come to an end.

Fortunately, you can continue the fun on your iPhone with the right iPhone soccer game. I've rounded up the best soccer games at the iTunes App Store to see which comes out on top (and whether it's worth the money). Keep the World Cup dream alive for your favorite team (digitally, at least) with one of the iPhone soccer games in this collection. Or maybe you just want to keep the sounds of the tournament alive--though I can't figure out why.

On the heels of Google introducing automatic updating for the Adobe Flash plug-in, a future version of Google Chrome will include technology that blocks out-of-date plug-ins and helps users update them, Google said.

The company did not provide a timeline for this feature, except to say it will be "medium-term," in a post Monday on The Chromium Blog.

The browser also will eventually offer a warning when a user is about to run infrequently used plug-ins.

"Some plug-ins are widely installed but typically not required for today's Internet experience," the post said. "For most users, any attempt to instantiate such a plug-in is suspicious and Google Chrome will warn on this condition."

Google Chrome already offers the ability to disable individual plug-ins or run only plug-ins that are on a list of trusted domains, and it offers auto-update for Adobe Flash Player. Chrome also has PDF support via an internal plug-in.

Firefox is the only other browser that warns users about plug-in viability. While Firefox checks and disables plug-ins, it doesn't auto-update them like Chrome does. Mozilla says it plans to add auto-updating to Firefox 4, due later this year.

Meanwhile, Mozilla does offer a Web-based checker.

Originally posted at InSecurity Complex

Today, Hulu officially announced Hulu Plus, a premium subscription service that gives you all-you-can-eat (er, watch) access to streaming TV shows and movies for $9.99 per month.

For now, Hulu Plus is available by preview invitation only, but iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch owners can get a sweet, sweet taste of the service by downloading the new Hulu Plus app.

Here's a sampling of what you can watch right now, for free--no invitation or subscription necessary:

• "30 Rock," Season 4, Episode 1
• "Ugly Betty," Pilot
• "Spaced," Season 1, Episode 1
• "Parenthood," Pilot
• "Grey's Anatomy," Season 6, Episode 1
  
• "Wipeout: The Top 10 Moments of Wipeout"
  
• "Cosmos: The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean"
• "Great Museums: Wild Thing: The Smithsonian National Zoo"
  
• "Super Size Me"

Remember, that's just the stuff in the Free Gallery. If you switch over to the Featured, Popular, TV, Movies, or Recently Added sections, you'll find pretty much everything Hulu has to offer. The apps are simple, straightforward, and elegant.

Oh, and awesome. Having just watched "Spaced" on my iPhone 3GS and "30 Rock" on my iPad, let me just say this: Hulu Plus freakin' rocks. Its video and audio quality are superb when connected via 3G and Wi-Fi networks. (Streaming on an EDGE network  is not supported.)

But would I pay 10 bucks per month for it?  I'm undecided on that point, mostly because Hulu isn't the only game in Streaming TV Town. There's also that little upstart called Netflix.

Indeed, the big question here is whether Hulu Plus will be able to compete with Netflix, which already has a killer app on the iPad and will soon offer a just-as-killer app for the iPhone.

I'm a Netflix subscriber, already paying $8.99 monthly for DVDs by mail and unlimited streaming. (Using Netflix "Watch Instantly" on a Windows Media Center PC is practically a religious experience.) The service has a much larger movie library than Hulu does and an extremely comprehensive TV catalog.

In fact, Hulu's only real edge is that it delivers the latest episodes of my favorite shows, such as last Friday's "Friday Night Lights." With Netflix, I have to wait until the entire season is available, which usually happens months after the season ends.

What do you think? After you get a chance to play with the iPhone or iPad apps, tell me if you think Hulu Plus is worth $9.99 per month, or if Netflix is the better deal. Right now, I'm leaning toward the latter--but Hulu Plus is mighty tempting.

Originally posted at iPhone Atlas

Adobe on Tuesday released updates for Reader and Acrobat that plug 17 critical holes, including one being exploited in the wild to take control of computers and one that could be used to launch an attack using social engineering and PDF files.

Adobe warned about the vulnerability being used in attacks, which also affected Flash Player, in early June and plugged the hole in Flash on June 10.

Meanwhile, the PDF vulnerability was made public in late March by security researcher Didier Stevens, who fashioned a proof-of-concept attack that relied on the "/launch" functionality. Another researcher at NitroSecurity took advantage of the same flaw to create a proof-of-concept attack about a week later.

"We added functionality to block any attempts to launch an executable or other harmful objects by default," Adobe's Steve Gottwals, wrote in a blog post on Tuesday. "We also altered the way the existing warning dialog works to thwart the known social engineering attacks."

The security updates are for Adobe Reader 9.3.2 for Windows, Mac, and Unix, Adobe Acrobat 9.3.2 for Windows and Macintosh, and Adobe Reader 8.2.2 and Acrobat 8.2.2 for Windows and Mac, according to the security bulletin.

These updates will take the place of the quarterly security update that was scheduled for July 13, Adobe said. The next quarterly update is scheduled for October 12.

Meanwhile, Adobe said that when patches are available it will provide immediate updates on its Download Center for the most popular languages and operating systems starting July 13.

The company also said its new Updater system, launched in April, seems to be helping customers keep their software up to date better than the old system.

"When we compared the new updater against the older technology, we found that our users were much more likely to update using the new Adobe Reader Updater," Gottwals wrote. "Our data showed that the user population adopted the last update roughly three times faster than previous updates."

Originally posted at InSecurity Complex