One again I was irritated this morning to see Microsoft's XPS driver as the first choice when printing a document in PageMaker. In the past, I left the driver on my computer "just in case."
(Microsoft meant XPS to be a -- the! -- competitor to Adobe PDF, and is short for the "XML paper specification.")
(Microsoft meant XPS to be a -- the! -- competitor to Adobe PDF, and is short for the "XML paper specification.")
The XPS printjob counter has never risen above 0.
But I've never needed to produce an XPS file. I've never received an XPS document. Sure, Autodesk has its DWFx format that requires XPS as a wrapper, but that format's just as uninteresting: why stick a DWF file inside an XPS when the same DWF works just fine without XPS.
I think I'll remove the driver. Does anyone use XPS?
I prefer XPS over PDF, and use it frequently for fixing a document in an archivable file format. I started using XPS because every time I view a PDF file, Adobe loads a bunch of crap in the background that ultimately causes a crash (sometimes a week later), while periodically bugging me to download an update and reboot my computer for no reason. Now that I've upgraded to Windows 7, my Acrobat Pro asks me to authorize every time I try to open a PDF (in Reader, mind you -- why does Acrobat even care about reader?). Acrobat Pro will soon be uninstalled, and I'll be happy to see it go away. I can live without PDF.
Posted by: Owen Wengerd | Oct 20, 2009 at 10:03 AM
Try Foxit for a free PDF reader that is faster than Acrobat Reader.
I also use Bluebeam PDF Revu instead of Acrobat for editing PDFs and doing markups. You can use it as a viewer as well. Less $$$ and more features....plus its interface is more like a CAD program.
I've never run across any XPS files. PDF is the standard.
Posted by: Jason | Oct 20, 2009 at 10:44 AM
Oh, I do. I have replaced using the old MHT format with the XPS printer to save articles I find online and would like to reference later.
Works like a charm, and opens in IE. The good thing is that the formatting and stuff is preserved for most websites, meaning I dont get to look at an ugly variant later. Not always the case with PDF ...
Posted by: Sid | Oct 21, 2009 at 12:08 AM
I had to install the XPS driver because someone sent me an XPS file I had to print - only to find that the XPS viewer does not even scale to European paper sizes ...
Posted by: Dietmar | Oct 21, 2009 at 07:18 AM
"why stick a DWF file inside an XPS when the same DWF works just fine without XPS"?
Because DWFx can be viewed/printed by a Windows OS (XP or newer) without a viewer install.
Posted by: RobiNZ | Oct 21, 2009 at 04:11 PM