Microsoft will be releasing a printer language and drivers to compete with Adobe's PostScript as part of Longhorn. The code name is "Metro". Previously, there had been a lot of confusion about what Metro really meant. Many, including myself, thought it was a part of Microsoft's collaboration packages. Turns out it's something else entirely.
MS is touting this as an open specification, available without payment of royalties. FOSS advocates in my circle are waiting to look at the licensing, fearing it will somehow exclude free software.
Any virtues of the new system are as yet not clear, but what is apparent is that MS is making a bold and comprehensive addition to document processing that may or may not eclipse PostScript. It could be a PDF killer or just another way to get things done. If they do it right, they could make documents more efficient. Conversion of a document to PDF sometimes doubles the file size, so there is room for improvement.
Jack
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