

In fact, despite so many similarities between PDF and XPS formats, XPS files never become as nearly popular as PDF files, although Microsoft first introduced it as “PDF killer.” The main reason for converting XPS files to PDF is that PDF is known almost everywhere and viewable by any devices used at home and business. For instance both include features such as DRM and digital signatures. XPS and PDF formats are both document types which are device-independent and very similar to each other. This might sound very similar to a feature called “print to PDF” included in some other tools and software. The main tool for creating XPS files in Windows is Microsoft XPS Document Writer which works as a virtual printer saving document outputs to. So in order to view OXPS documents in Windows 7’s XPS Viewer users should convert them to XPS format.

xps extension in Windows 8, which is not supported by older versions of Windows. Windows Vista and later versions of windows support this file format. Since PDF is far more known and compatible in different systems compared to XPS, we might want to convert XPS files to PDF from time to time.ĭeveloped by Microsoft as a document type alternative to PDF, XML Paper Specification (or XPS) is an open, standardized format representing a fixed layout document. Both XPS and PDF file types are fixed formatting and layout document formats to make, read, and print standard documents regardless of system and printer.
