The job of opening PDF (Portable Document Format) has become a lot easier in recent times, thanks to the native PDF reader in Chrome and Firefox. While PC users who use Firefox and Chrome to browse the web have luxury to open PDF files with a click without having to install any additional software or extension, Internet Explorer users have no choice but to use a third-party program to view PDF files.
While users on Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 can view PDFs without having to install additional third-party software such as Adobe Reader or Soda 3D PDF Reader, Internet Explorer users who’re on previous versions of Windows have to either install a third-party software or relay on free online PDF readers.
Although services such as Google Docs and PDFescape are pretty good to view PDF files online, users who use Microsoft’s services such as SkyDrive and Outlook.com definitely love to view PDF files online without uploading them to another service.
Microsoft has been improving Word Web Apps, a free online service to view and edit documents online without installing any additional software. The good news is that SkyDrive, Outlook.com, and Office 365 users can now open and view PDF files online using Microsoft Word Web Apps.
That is, you can now view all PDF files stored on your SkyDrive account without having to download them on to your PC. Another cool thing is that Outlook.com also now lets you view PDF files online that you have received as an attachment.
To view an attached PDF file, simply click View online option that appears on the PDF file in your Outlook.com mail. And when you’re on SkyDrive, click on the PDF file to open it.
Additionally, Word Web Apps now supports converting PDF files to editable Word documents, which means that you can now edit your PDF documents online. Please note that Word Web Apps doesn’t convert the actual PDF file to Word and instead, it creates an entirely new file.
And if you’re looking for a free online PDF viewer service that requires no registration, we recommend PDF Online Reader. How to open Office Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files in your Chrome browser tab guide might also interest you.
Leave a Reply