Microsoft's Metro Goes Head-to-Head with Adobe

Microsoft's Longhorn, the software giant's next version of Windows, will include Metro, an application that allows users to create files that can be printed, viewed or archived without requiring the program that created them.

Neither Adobe or Microsoft are calling the Metro versus PDF story an all-out war, but some analysts see an eventual battle brewing in the print format arena.

PDF Threat?

"Microsoft has ignored PDF for a long time and watched it become the standard way for users who want to share documents on the Internet," DeMichellie said. "Microsoft doesn't like that because if people exchange documents in PDF format, then it weakens the hold of Office as the program you must have."

Cross-Platform Capability

Analysts said part of the reason PDF has been so successful is because Adobe has developed readers for every conceivable operating system. Microsoft's current version of cross platform is limited to XP and Longhorn support.

"It's the ubiquity of the Adobe reader that makes PDF so attractive to government agencies and companies publishing annual reports and other information," he said. "It would be very unlike Microsoft to produce a reader that can work everywhere. We can be darn certain that Microsoft won't be developing a Linux reader."

DeMichellie said unless Microsoft steps up to the plate to address cross-platform issues, or, alternatively, offers new features not available in PDF, Adobe should be able to maintain its stronghold in the printable document format world.