Differences Between IPX & XNS
IPX and XNS do not always use the same Ethernet encapsulation format.
IPX uses Novell's proprietary Service Advertisement Protocol (SAP) to advertise special network services. File servers and print servers are examples of services that are typically advertised.
IPX uses delay, measured in ticks, while XNS uses hop count as the primary metric in determining the best path to a destination.