Microsoft announced details of the new XML-based format Metro at the beginning of this week, at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) in Seattle.

The new format is part of the next generation of the Windows operating system, codenamed Longhorn, and is set for release towards the end of next year. Features of Metro will also be supported via service packs in earlier Windows releases including 2003 and XP.

For many applications, such as desktop printing, quickprint and some digital print, it will offer a simpler alternative to Adobe's PostScript and PDF, as well as  simplifying creation and use of PostScript and PDF for high-end commercial print in the PC environment.

"You can say that it [Metro] does a similar thing to PDF, on a platform similar to Acrobat," said Global Graphics chief technology officer Adrian Ford. "I don't think that Metro will compete in all markets and there are a lot of markets where PDF hasn't penetrated.

"It will become the best way to print in the home and office. We also see in digital print applications it will have significant benefits."
Ford also said that, for quick print applications that currently face a nightmare dealing with jobs supplied in Word or Publisher, "Metro has the capability to massively improve the quality of data input to commercial printers". But, he added: "It won't replace PDF and PostScript at the high end".

Global Graphics has been working with Microsoft on Metro since 2003, as a consultant on the specification and on proof of concept. The Cambridge-based software firm has also developed its own Metro-native RIP that will run on any platform and can be incorporated into embedded controllers.

Other firms that have backed Metro include Canon, Epson, HP, Monotype and Xerox.

Story by Barney Cox