Adobe Reader 7.0 has just been released, and it is worth having. Adobe Reader is the free program nearly all of us use to read .pdf files, including journal articles available online through the library. Version 7.0 has various refinements, but the one that matters most is that the program now loads much more quickly. Adobe Reader 7.0 is available for MAC, Windows, and Linux users, is still free, and is available by clicking here.
(A word of warning, however, for those of you who already have the full, purchased version of Adobe Acrobat Professional on your hard drive, which enables you to create as well as read .pdf files. It will be overwritten by Adobe Reader 7.0 if you follow the default setup options, which loads Adobe Reader in the same directory as Adobe Acrobat. If this happens, you will lose the additional functions of the purchased version. Be sure to load the two programs in separate directories.)