Hans Aberg writes:
 > > my .tex files compile into PDF, thanks...
 >
 > I would be great if PdfTeX, and some of the other TeX extensions could be
 > built togeter and elevated to a common standard.
well, the major TeX "kits" have done this. anything based on web2c has
pdftex there already, and so does MikTeX

 > Does DVI have any advantages over PDF?
do you really want to open this can of worms? :-}

answer: yes, theoretically; no, in practice.

many people will reply that "xdvi is the best viewer I know" or "i can't get
acrobat for my platform". but are those "advantages of dvi"

sebastian