Microsoft XPS Document Viewer

Microsoft XPS Document Viewer

Microsoft has just revealed that they would be supporting a new document format named XML Paper Specification (XPS) in their upcoming MS Office 12 suite. In addition, Vista would come with built in support for this format, which is expected to take on Adobe PDF format.

Users can test out this format by using two separate viewers suggested by the company:

Internet Explorer version 6.0 or later: Users can view XPS files in the Internet Explorer 6 or later by installing the WinFX Runtime Components. Once this Runtime is installed, the web browser shipped with the Windows OS would be able to open XPS files using the XPS viewer that is included with the WinFX Runtime Components.

XML Paper Specification Essentials Pack (Beta 1): Microsoft has already released the XML Paper Specification Essentials Pack (Beta 1) which includes a reader for the XPS files. We tested this application here at TechWhack and found it to be buggy and slow. However, it should get better in the newer versions.

Microsoft adds that this beta is not fully compliant with the XML Paper Specification as of now. However, the final version would support the format completely.

A test XPS file can be downloaded from the Microsoft’s website in the form of Windows Vista Beta 2 Product Guide which is available as both a Doc and XPS file. Interestingly, the XPS file is much smaller in size than the Doc format.