Windows 8 In Depth

XPS Print Output

Windows 8 includes support for a document file type called XPS, which stands for XML Paper Specification. An XPS file represents printed output. The idea is that you can view an XPS file on any computer that has an XPS viewer program, without having to have a copy of the application that created the document. For example, you can view the XPS version of a Microsoft Word document without needing to have a copy of Word. If this sounds suspiciously like Adobe’s PDF file format, you’re right. XPS is Microsoft’s attempt to create a universal electronic document format. It does work well, but it’s not been widely adopted. It’s telling that Microsoft has added PDF output capability to Microsoft Word, Excel, and other Office applications. ...