Microsoft Reader

This ebook reader application has been around for the last decade, and its interface shows that at times. It can read books aloud using a basic text-to-speech interface but only accepts ebooks in the LIT format; which is not only rather uncommon but has been superseded by EPUB and the ever-present PDF format. “Microsoft Reader” is available for free, but only runs on Windows computers.

Apple iBooks

Apple's iBooks application is bundled as part of the latest version of iTunes. It only uses the EPUB format, and is linked to Apple's own bookshop. However, it is possible to import EPUB ebooks that have been purchased from non-Apple bookstores into iTunes; so although it is cumbersome, there is a workaround for the iBookstore lock-in.

Amazon Kindle

Amazon's Kindle reader for Windows and Mac OS allows syncing between all versions of the Kindle application, and the Kindle device itself, if you have one. However, it is fully tied to Amazon's own bookstore and does not support the importing of PDFs and ebooks purchased from other sources. Documents can be converted to work on the Kindle, however, this requires e-mailing them to Amazon as an attachment first.