Evince vs StarForce Reader

Evince is a free document viewer for Linux desktop users. It opens PDF, PostScript, DjVu, DVI, XPS, OXPS, and Comic Book Archive files, and can display supported documents as full-screen presentations. Interactive forms can be completed, including text fields and scrollable list boxes. For PDFs, Evince can add notes and text highlights; these annotations are limited to PDF files. SyncTeX synchronizes a TeX source file with its resulting PDF. Printing is documented for DVI, DjVu, PDF, PostScript, and TIFF. When opening a password-protected PDF, Evince prompts for its password. It is not a file editor. Some Linux distributions may need the relevant backend package to support every listed format. The project wiki recommends obtaining Evince through the user's Linux distribution and points to packages or source for other download options. The help site includes user documentation and directions for reporting application bugs.

StarForce Reader is a free application for viewing PDF, EPUB, SFPDF and PCDOC files; on mobile devices it can also play protected videos. Its reading tools include tabs, searches for text and titles, and a saved last reading position, along with activation and deactivation controls for protected documents. Downloads are listed for Windows, Linux, RED OS, macOS, Android and iOS. On Windows, the first opening of a protected document activates it and ties it to that computer’s software and hardware setup. Whether printing is possible depends on the publisher’s settings, and moving an activation to another computer may be disabled. On Android, removing the app also removes the protected-document license, so another activation is needed after reinstalling to view that document. The maker describes installation as free of promoted third-party utilities. For support, StarForce provides a feedback form and recommends SF Helper to help diagnose problems with protected applications. Its maker, Protection Technology, LLC, says it has developed software solutions since 2000.