One of the most intriguing demos at WinHEC yesterday was a sneak peek at a new document format code-named “Metro.” According to Microsoft’s white paper [in Microsoft Word format] on the new technology, it’s “a complete specification for a fixed-layout document format based on XML that offers ‘electronic paper’ for use by any application on any platform.”
Sound familiar? If the spec succeeds, it would obviate the need for Adobe PDF files.
Metro will reportedly be backward compatible with Windows XP. You’ll be able to print directly to a Metro file, use a universal viewer (like Adobe’s Reader) to open files, and send them to any printer that has a compatible driver. Yesterday’s demo of a Metro-optimized printer showed off the capability to print color pages that have the same sort of gradients and shading you see on the screen. Metro-optimized printers probably won’t be ready until 2007.
The new technology should be in Beta 1, which is due this summer. Developers can get the full spec here
Ed Bott 
If they can make it better, faster and more open than PDF then I’m in. PDF won’t go away but a bit of healthy competition would be nice.
Adobe Reader is my most loathed program. Consistently an update message box is hidden behind the main application and appears stuck. Resource hog. Anything will be an improvement.
Being XML-based, I’ll welcome it, even though I’ve been creating important PDF files for ten years now. The .doc format will change and this will offer a secondary level of stability to document creation and storage that will be welcome competition to Adobe’s PDF. Just leave out the DRM, thank you!