Microsoft XPS Overview from Belgium

Peter Ansoms, in the 16/2007 edition of Grafisch Nieuws/Nouvelles Graphiques, provides a wonderful overview of the XPS technology as it relates to the Graphic Arts industry both in French and Flemish.

Ansoms points out in his article that while XPS by itself will not immediately replace the use of PDF in the printing industry, he would strongly advise graphic arts companies to keep track of XPS because he is convinced that XPS files will gradually drip into their world too. He thinks XPS is important because it is soon to be a standard, it is easy to use, and it is a Microsoft product. For these reasons, he expects XPS to be massively adopted by the general public and by companies alike.

He further highlights that XPS will probably be very important for document based environments (offices, etc); a development Adobe is taking seriously too, considering their work on the development of MARS. In his view, the printing industry is different, as this industry has invested for several years in setting up workflows based on Adobe products. The breakthrough of XPS in this industry will follow upon its adoption by the print buyers, who are delivering files to the printing companies.

Finally Peter provides a summary of the XPS Land event at Graph Expo in Chicago, being one of first events showcasing XPS products. His closing statement is that the last word on XPS has not been said and many developments will follow.

Many thanks to Ton Oosterwijk of Beacon COI for his assistance in translating the article.