Today’s information workers are using advanced graphics in applications and documents they create and share. Increasingly, operating systems themselves are also taking advantage of the advanced graphics capabilities of the PC and peripherals. “Longhorn,” code name for the next version of the Windows® operating system, makes extensive use of advanced graphics and includes improved platform capability for creating and sharing graphically rich documents.

As part of the improvement in the graphics capability in Windows, Microsoft Corp. has developed a family of technologies, code-named “Metro,” that offers a unified framework to address the growing use of electronic document-based workflows, and inclusion of advanced graphics and extended color information in everyday documents and Web applications. “Metro” offers an open document format that uses Extensible Markup Language (XML) and other current, industry standards to create modern, cross-platform document and imaging technologies. “Metro” simplifies creation, sharing, printing, viewing and archiving of digital documents, while also improving image fidelity and print performance.

“Metro” provides a unified and open way to create and utilize fixed-format documents from existing information worker applications. It also enables Web, application and hardware developers to unite their document, imaging and printing formats. Microsoft plans to offer a royalty-free license for “Metro” when the specification and documentation are final. The license will enable vendors to integrate “Metro” technologies for creating and utilizing documents into applications or hardware, creating a consistent format for end-to-end document workflows.

• Fact Sheet (Microsoft Word Document) -- Specification linked in the headline.