Amazon is offering Kindle for PC as a free 6.01MB software download, allowing users to read Kindle books on a Windows PC. No Kindle is required, and you can access your Kindle books even if you don't have your Kindle with you. Kindle for PC enables you to synchronize your last page read and annotations between devices with Whispersync. You can also create bookmarks and view the annotations you created on your Kindle.

More than 400,000 books, including 101 of 112 New York Times Best Sellers are available. You can usually purchase New York Times Best Sellers and new releases for $9.99, with first chapters of many books offered as free samples. Books you purchase can also be read on a real Kindle, however Kindle newspapers, magazines, and blogs are not currently available for Kindle for PC.

Amazon plans to continue improving Kindle for PC. Thanks to Whispersync, you can already read your notes and highlights from other devices on Kindle for PC. Amazon’s programmers would like to add the ability to create notes and highlights within the Kindle for PC application in the near future. Other planned features are a Search Option and Zoom and rotate images. Just like the real Kindle, Kindle for PC does not support the ePUB e-book standard.

It’s also possible to read Kindle books on your iPhone or iPod touch. A Mac version and a BlackBerry version, Amazon says, is "coming soon."