Evince vs Okular

Imagine, if you will, two brave adventurers in the vast and often bewildering universe of PDF readers: Evince and Okular. Both are, in their own way, devoted to the noble cause of making documents readable, without causing any existential crises along the way. They share a common origin, born from the free and open-source movement, both available on Linux (with Okular occasionally dabbling in the Windows universe, just to keep things interesting). They are capable of viewing various document formats, from PDFs to ePubs and can even offer the occasional annotation – not unlike a helpful, if slightly distracted, guide on a cosmic journey.

Now, Evince, being a simple creature of the GNOME desktop environment, is a minimalist at heart, preferring to leave the complexities of the universe to others. It has been around since 2005, quietly providing what’s necessary to get through a document without too much fuss and most users will find it perfectly suited for casual reading, as long as you don’t need anything too exotic like DjVu files. Its sleek, user-friendly interface makes it feel as though it was designed with the goal of not disturbing your tranquility – like a towel, you might say, but for documents.

Meanwhile, Okular, hailing from the KDE galaxy, is a bit more of a show-off, constantly trying to be everything to everyone. Born in 2006, it prides itself on supporting an endless variety of file formats – DjVu, PostScript, you name it. It’s not shy about its advanced annotation tools, offering everything from drawing shapes to writing comments, making it a perfect companion for those who need a bit more firepower on their reading missions. If Evince is the quiet, contemplative type, Okular is the one with the giant map and a compass, ready to guide you through every document in the galaxy.

See also: Top 10 PDF Readers