This OS is not supported

That is the message that greeted me when, after reviewing the promotional material that promised 'a robust, open and trustworthy format', I clicked on the download icon.

Promise broken.

Microsoft is promoting XPS (The XML Paper Specification) as a realistic alternative to PDF and they are somehow getting influential voices like the New York Times to talk about it. This makes me wonder just how seriously organizations like the New York Times takes its reputation when junk reporting like this is allowed out the door.

Now, before you write me off as some sort of 'Micro$oft hater', consider what and who I am. I don't hate Microsoft. I, like most of the planet, wish that they would do some things differently, other things better (I wish that the guy who programmed Solitaire was working on Windows...man that OS would NEVER crash then...have you EVER seen Solitaire crash?) and I wish that they would simply not do some things at all. That said, I am someone who has clearly swallowed the Microsoft pill. (red or blue...hmmm, I can't recall) I first began programming with Microsoft languages in 1982 (on Commodore PET computers) and have worked continuously with Microsoft languages and systems and hardware ever since. I really owe my profession to Bill Gates and gang as I've focused on using Microsoft products as my tools of choice. I have a Microsoft Office keyboard (wonderful), a Microsoft wireless mouse, a Microsoft fingerprint reader, a Microsoft SPOT watch, one of the 27 Zunes ever sold in Canada (a grey market purchase through XS-Cargo on Boxing Day) and I am always considering what other new Microsoft product or tool I can put to use where I am. Hence XPS.

This one seems to be a dog. Or at least it is a puppy. Unlike Silverlight, which has been given a broad use appeal effort from Microsoft (still imperfect, but better than XPS) by developing software for this format for Linux, Macintosh and Windows (but not Windows 2000 - for shame!) . XPS is only (as far as I can tell) built for use by those who use Vista or XP. This is hardly cross platform, and certainly does not meet the needs of modern and future business. With the Macintosh platform expanding (slowly) its growth in to the corporate world, selecting document interchange technologies that are not available to all significant platforms is foolhardy.

Microsoft's assertion on the XPS homepage that "XPS documents print better, can be shared easier, are more secure and can be archived with confidence." is simply not true. XPS does not have the longevity or reach that PDF currently provides and therefore is not something that I would trust to format my corporate records (I currently oversee millions of discrete digital and physical records for current and historical archives) in.

If Microsoft is really serious about XPS and the effort to provide the world with a reasonable alternative to PDF (a laudible goal) they will have to ensure that XPS is as robust (perhaps this is already done) and as widely available as PDF readers and writers are today. Until then, it is foolish and negligent to consider XPS to be a format to consider for storage of documents that you want to share today and archive for future generations to access.