Microsoft's Metro Goes Head-to-Head with Adobe
By Jennifer LeClaire
TechNewsWorld
05/03/05 1:06 PM PT
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.

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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?
Directions on Microsoft senior analyst Greg DeMichillie told TechNewsWorld that Microsoft's clear intent is to replace PDF as the universal way of
exchanging documents.
"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.