What is an XPS file?
I’ve received a file that finishes .xps. what is it and should I open it?
An XPS file is an XML Paper Specification document which is Microsoft’s answer to Adobe Acrobat, or PDF files.
XPS files are slowly becoming more common as time goes on although they are still fairly rare creatures.
If you want to open them, you’ll need the XPS reader sofware which is a free download from Microsoft. They also offer the XML Essentials Pack which allows you to create these files as well.
You should treat any file you receive as being potentially infected and run it with an up to date virus scanner.
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December 13th, 2008 at 9:02 am
Hi there !
you wrote;
“XPS files are slowly becoming more common as time goes on..”
Where ? In some tech lab in Redmond? Or, perhaps on Mars ? If by some amazingly weird circumstance you get one attached to you email, no need to scramble to figure out where to find an installer, simply open this silly file in Adobe Acrobat.
XPS is an answer to a question everyone stopped asking 9 or 10 years ago – even the XPS Manual is PDF.
December 14th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Hi Micheal,
I don’t disagree with you that XPS files are a answer looking for a question, but we are seeing them more frequently and do get asked about them here and in other forums.
That’s not to say I think they’ll ever overtake PDF or even the DOC format.