Microsoft To Kill Off Third-Party Printer Drivers in Windows (theregister.com) 181
Microsoft has made it clear: it will ax third-party printer drivers in Windows. From a report: The death rattle will be lengthy, as the timeline for the end of servicing stretches into 2027 -- although Microsoft noted that the dates will be subject to change. There is, after all, always that important customer with a strange old printer lacking Mopria support.
Mopria is part of the Windows' teams justification for removing support. Founded in 2013 by Canon, HP, Samsung and Xerox, the Mopria Alliance's mission is to provide universal standards for printing and scanning. Epson, Lexmark, Adobe and Microsoft have also joined the gang since then. Since Windows 10 21H2, Microsoft has baked Mopria support into the flagship operating system, with support for devices connected via the network or USB, thanks to the Microsoft IPP Class driver. Microsoft said: "This removes the need for print device manufacturers to provide their own installers, drivers, utilities, and so on."
Mopria is part of the Windows' teams justification for removing support. Founded in 2013 by Canon, HP, Samsung and Xerox, the Mopria Alliance's mission is to provide universal standards for printing and scanning. Epson, Lexmark, Adobe and Microsoft have also joined the gang since then. Since Windows 10 21H2, Microsoft has baked Mopria support into the flagship operating system, with support for devices connected via the network or USB, thanks to the Microsoft IPP Class driver. Microsoft said: "This removes the need for print device manufacturers to provide their own installers, drivers, utilities, and so on."
I'm carefully optimistic (Score:4, Interesting)
If this eliminates the need to install extremely invasive printer drivers that transfer anything including the kitchen sink to their master while gobbling up insane amounts of resources, it might be the thing MS did right this year.
I just don't think printer manufacturers will swallow that. Rest assured, we'll see more printers that just simply don't work if you don't install a 200GB package along with the phone app.
Re:I'm carefully optimistic (Score:4)
Came here to say... I'm very happy with this move.
I hate wanting a driver and it requires a huge software package that takes over the printer queue and bothers me with notifications. There's a perfectly serviceable existing solution in the OS. I don't want to have to familiarize myself with an unnecessary interface.
Re:I'm carefully optimistic (Score:5, Interesting)
This was true from the beginning - that the drivers didn't have to look like this - and the drivers still look like they do. Can't nag for branded ink and toner with the OS driver.
Take a look for the 'print only' version of the driver, sometimes the manufacturer offers this for business use. It's tiny.
Re:I'm carefully optimistic (Score:4, Insightful)
Don't worry, the nagging will be embedded into the core OS now.
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The firmware on the printer will do it. The API allows it to refuse to print and give the reason as "you ran out of a colour you aren't using".
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"Your multi-function printer can't scan because you've run out of ink"
Re:I'm carefully optimistic (Score:5, Funny)
>Can't nag for branded ink and toner with the OS driver.
Well sure you can. It'll just look like this:
"Your document failed to print due to a hardware error. Please consult the manufacturer's troubleshooting instructions. Device error code is: 0x000001a2 BLUE_INK_IS_LOW_OR_NOT_GENUINE_OR_PRINTER_IS_TEAPOT. Click here to look online for a solution."
Re:I'm carefully optimistic (Score:5, Insightful)
Microsoft realized their invasive OS adware was beginning to compete with HPs.
Universal drivers are great, but this almost certainly a fight for eyeball time.
Hp needs it hp ink subscription manager software (Score:2)
Hp needs it hp ink subscription manager software to run somewhere
Re:Hp needs it hp ink subscription manager softwar (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Hp needs it hp ink subscription manager softwar (Score:5, Interesting)
Do we get to vote on that?
Quite frankly, HP is about the most toxic environment I ever had the displeasure of being subjected to. I do the occasional support for a neighbor of mine who made the unforgivable mistake of buying a HP printer. They try putting a genuine HP printer ink cartridge into the printer and the printer sputters and complains about the "forged" cartridge. The unforgivable crime they committed? They tried to use a cartridge from the OTHER, IDENTICAL HP printer they have.
Fuck HP. Fuck them with their printers.
Sideways.
Re:Hp needs it hp ink subscription manager softwar (Score:5, Insightful)
Do we get to vote on that?
Quite frankly, HP is about the most toxic environment I ever had the displeasure of being subjected to. I do the occasional support for a neighbor of mine who made the unforgivable mistake of buying a HP printer. They try putting a genuine HP printer ink cartridge into the printer and the printer sputters and complains about the "forged" cartridge. The unforgivable crime they committed? They tried to use a cartridge from the OTHER, IDENTICAL HP printer they have.
Fuck HP. Fuck them with their printers.
Sideways.
The cartridges consumers receive with a subscription have DRM that make it so you can't share cartridges, and the cartridge will expire on a certain date (instead of when the ink runs out). If you buy cartridges from a store, you won't run into either scenario. I like the print quality of HP, but never sign up for the subscription.
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They bought that fucking cartridge in a store, they didn't even know that this subscription bullshit exists.
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A strange game. The only winning move is not to play.
Get a laser printer for your document needs. If you need high quality colour photo prints, use a print shop. Order them online or in person. Just don't buy a photo printer, let someone else get ripped off on the ink.
Re:Hp needs it hp ink subscription manager softwar (Score:5, Insightful)
Its sad. HP where once a great company that made genuinely good printers, but something went terrible wrong with the management at some point.
Personally I recomend brother printers. I'm *still* on my 12yo brother laser printer and despite printing between 5-20 pages of sheet music a week, I'm still on the second toner cartrige. Not bad for a $90 printer.
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I'm *still* on my 12yo brother laser printer and despite printing between 5-20 pages of sheet music a week, I'm still on the second toner cartrige. Not bad for a $90 printer.
Same. Brother HL-2140 for life!!
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HP used to mean tank, as in "Sherman Tank".
Now it means tank, as in "septic tank"
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Whoever loses
We win
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Universal drivers are great, but this almost certainly a fight for eyeball time.
A fight for eyeball time...? It's an operating system.
It's almost as if they forgot they're not selling porn, and are going to struggle to achieve that Microsoft-and-chill status.
will the MS drivers have collate? full tray contro (Score:5, Insightful)
will the MS drivers have collate? full tray control? duplex? Locked Print Jobs that need an password at the printer to print? and other stuff that needs an custom driver to run?
Re:will the MS drivers have collate? full tray con (Score:5, Funny)
As long as they manage to print without questioning whether the original cartridges are actually genuine, they will already be superior to the printer manufacturer drivers. Even if they only manage to print Comic Sans properly.
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Don't worry they will embed the genuine cartridges thing on the hardware layer, so when you print you just get an error, no need to install invasive software on your windows machine.
Microsoft will continue to make windows more invasive.
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Surely all that stuff is included in the Mopria drivers to begin with. It was created by the printer companies after all.
Re:will the MS drivers have collate? full tray con (Score:4, Interesting)
You're thinking about home printers. The parent is almost certainly talking about printers IT people have to support professionally - e.g. stuff like the expensive multifunction Ricohs we have in our department which do collating, stapling, scanning, emailing, etc. etc.
First thing I noticed while reading TFS was that Ricoh isn't mentioned, and they're a pretty big fish in this space.
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Xerox do the same kind of thing, and they're a founder of Mopria
No doubt the API has some kind of vendor specific channel that custom printer software can use to do non-standard things.
I also don't doubt cheap consumer grade printers will require this for all but printing a basic test page, forcing the user to install the bloatware.
Re:will the MS drivers have collate? full tray con (Score:4, Interesting)
Probably?
I'm guessing they are doing two things: 1. relying on existing drivers for older printers, 2. using IPP for everything else. With IPP, the printer basically exposes a list of capabilities to the host in terms of options like trays, collate, etc and also accepted formats, which can be some of a restricted version of a CUPS-like raster format, PNG, JPEG and PDF, so the host knows whether to do rasterisation and how to send the data.
Re: will the MS drivers have collate? full tray co (Score:4, Informative)
We already have almost all of that stuff (except maybe code to print) with the oldest standards like PCL and PS. All you need to get duplex on a PostScript printer, for example, is the PPD.
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The PPD is what maps the standard stuff (e.g. bunch of check boxes and input fields specified in a standard way) to fragments of postscript which vary from printer to printer, in order to communicate to the driver what to do.
It might be something like:
<</DuplexType 1>>setpagedevice
The printer dialog box presents the checkboxes and etc to the user, and returns the choices to the print system. The print system then uses them to insert postscript into the stream.
With IP
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In my experience, they don't have the ability to print 100%. Everything comes out just a little bit smaller. Not a big deal on, say, a letter. But literally unusable when printing sheets of labels.
About what I expect from Microsoft.
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I think everyone is just too optimistic.
There is no reason for Microsoft to NOT include all the chaff printer drivers come with nowadays. They could just install the manufacturer driver as provided.
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And hand that sweet, sweet consumer data to the printer makers?
Remember: Data is most valuable if you're the only one who has it.
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I'm afraid I was misunderstood.
Microsoft could agree to host the drivers and receive some kickback for that.
The data would still go to the manufacturer, since the drivers will be unmodified. Microsoft would simply act as a middle-man.
We'll see.
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You think they aren't going to plumb in everything around the driver with telemetry?
The driver is probably the least useful part if they want to spy. They already control what's being given to the driver, so if the driver is just about getting ink on paper to resemble what is on your screen, they already have everything they could have asked for, because they have the screen.
Re:I'm carefully optimistic (Score:5, Interesting)
What is the difference between Mopria and Apple's AirPrint?
AirPrint was announced in 2011, and available in 2012. This is a full year before the Mopria gang was even formed. So why does Mopria even have to exist?
Why do we have two competing "zeroconf" printing standards? It seems like we're doomed to live out a sad series of xkcd cartoons. . .
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Because MS doesn't want to depend on Apple and Apple doesn't want to depend on MS.
I still think it's better than having to deal with a clutter of 100 different drivers from different companies all trying to install enough spyware to make the NSA jealous. MS already has that functionality baked into Win11 and doesn't need to burden the printer drivers with it.
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Then they should have made an industry standard. They could have gone to the ECMA, which Microsoft has long worked with and which Apple is an ordinary member (a position holding the highest authority of the Association) and currently chairs. IBM currently holds position of President. Suspiciously absent is HP and Brother, they if a TC was formed they probably would have joined.
Hindsight is 20/20 I suppose. Maybe in the future we can avoid this silliness of multiple competing standards that are each painfull
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Then they should have made an industry standard. They could have gone to the ECMA, which Microsoft has long worked with and which Apple is an ordinary member (a position holding the highest authority of the Association) and currently chairs. IBM currently holds position of President. Suspiciously absent is HP and Brother, they if a TC was formed they probably would have joined.
Hindsight is 20/20 I suppose. Maybe in the future we can avoid this silliness of multiple competing standards that are each painfully incomplete and suffer from inconsistent vendor support. Creating new standards organizations from scratch instead of going through ECMA, IEEE, or ISO is also possible. Take ML Commons [mlcommons.org] that was created around ML Perf, a benchmarking tool for Machine Learning (ML).
I couldn't find whether Apple Opened AirPrint like they long ago did with Zeroconf, Bonjour and CUPS; but I thought I had heard back in the day that that was their intention.
So, it seems rather silly that the Mopria people didn't just throw in with an already released and field-proven standard, that already had major printer OEMs such as (IIRC) HP, Canon, Epson and Xerox supporting AirPrint in shipping Product before the first version of Mopria was even Prototyped.
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There isn’t much. Both “standards” are based on IPP, mDNS+DNS-SD (“Bonjour”), and a few common formats - PDF, JPEG, Apple or PWG Raster (both based on CUPS raster), and (in the case of Mopria and Wi-Fi Direct printing) PCLm which is a PDF subset for streaming raster. There is also something called “IPP Everywhere” that is essentially all of the completely open bits with self-certification tools for printer vendors (this from the IEEE-ISTO Printer Working Group that
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AirPrint and Mopria are both based on IPP
So apparently there is a need for something IPP doesn't support on its own, like configuration management and discovery
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AirPrint and Mopria are both based on IPP
So apparently there is a need for something IPP doesn't support on its own, like configuration management and discovery
Way back in the AppleTalk days, Apple had already Opened Zeroconf and the Discovery Protocol we now call Bonjour.
Maybe IPP was simply ill-suited to graphical printers?
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So, I'm a bit of snark, my family is scottish and i grew up in Australia. It's hard to keep it in check. It also pains me to see people state grossly inaccurate things with such confidence, but I'll assume misunderstanding or misinformation rather than any ill intent. Please forgive the abrasive tone.
Oops, I just looked at the CUPS.org website, and can no longer blame you for believing the Apple marketing shills. *sigh* But please, just assume that Apple is pretty much always lying to you if they're tellin
Re:I'm carefully optimistic (Score:4, Informative)
Well Apple and Google really started the trend.
I mean, Apple bought CUPS which basically gave MacOS access to a bunch of printers right out of the gate, and Apple tends to provide more printer support through CUPS.
But then, Apple and Google came up with a completely driverless printing system. iOS has AirPrint and Google has Cloud Printing. Both these technologies do not require drivers to be installed on either iOS or Android yet iOS and Android apps have access to basically any compatible printer in the world.
Printer drivers did make sense in the past where printers couldn't really render an entire page on their own and required the computer host to do it. Sure there were a few printers that didn't require drivers - printers that accepted PostScript were effectively "driverless" but until recently has the cost of the requirement CPU and memory components dropped to the point where it's effectively free (combined with the requisite WiFi or Ethernet networking).
There's no reason for printer drivers to exist today - the modern printer has enough CPU and RAM to render a page on its own so it can translate drawing commands into ink on a page. Licensing kept PostScript out of the running, but I'm sure there will probably be some GDI-based printer language supported. Or maybe some PCL variant. The logic and intelligence of modern printers allows for a common interface to be set down.
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Well Apple and Google really started the trend.
They did not, but they're awfully good at getting credit for stuff especially Apple.
The actual driverless stuff is all done using IPP, and there are a few of different layers on top to discover devices on a LAN.
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Naturally they'll resist, there's only so much they can do with an inexpensive user interface on the printer. Sure they can detect when there is only 75% of the ink left so it can refuse to print, but if they can't install 500GB of extra software, how are they supposed to guide you to a local in-network title pawn so you can get more? Those kickbacks are pure gold!
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I just don't think printer manufacturers will swallow that
are you sure of that? this thing was created by printer manufacturers.
disclaimer: i don't have experience with modern printers and printer drivers (i only read the horror stories) plus i heard about mopria for the first time just now, so i'm absolutely talking out of my gut instinct here, but ...
if several printer manufacturers that are famous for recklessly abusing their customer base with their proprietary systems band together to create a new "standarized" system and get the blessing of the most common o
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Yeah but how will the manufacturers strong arm you into buying printer ink that would shake out to $40,00 a gallon?
Please think of Epson/HP before posting this obvious FUD that only serves to harm innocent companies.
Seriously, do you realize the economic damage this will cause? hell, what if the change allows you to use third party or refilled cartridge's??
This is madness, shame on MS.
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If it means HP, Epson and Canon die in a fire, at least something good came out of it.
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Re:I'm carefully optimistic (Score:4, Informative)
Print Support Apps [microsoft.com] are one of the types of "UWP Device Apps" which are the 'modern' way to get your shovelware installed along with your driver. By design support for automatically installing these [microsoft.com] is included.
Microsoft wants shit Type 3 and Type 4 drivers to stop hanging the print spooler; and they want to move awful vendor applications bundled with drivers or used to manipulate proprietary settings and such from win32 to UWP; but are not interested in rocking the boat in terms of vendors bundling absolutely whatever. Indeed, the automatic install behavior actually makes it easier for shovelware in the case of devices that are supported by generic drivers but have a vendor interested in pushing a little more; since the app installation based on device metadata happens even if the driver installation is either covered by in-box drivers and unnecessary, or handled through windows update without needing to pull in the app.
This is most noticeable with things like mice, keyboards, and webcams; where there's a class driver that can handle it; but, once you get out of the cheapest seats, a vendor with an 'ecosystem' to push.
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Re:I'm carefully optimistic (Score:5, Funny)
If MS wants to fight HP, hey, more power to them, pass the popcorn, I bring the soda.
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Don't criticize capitalism and the wonderful innovations it brings about, comrade.
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https://xkcd.com/927/ [xkcd.com]
About Time (Score:2)
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The only thing driver-related that will change is the vendors won't be able to push new non-security updates via Windows update. I don't see that as a likely issue for a 25 year-old printer. :)
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Except that the printer might not be supported by the M$ branded driver so your ultra-wide dot matrix printer will become a boat anchor.
Of course - there are probably ways around that by setting up a smart print server using older windows or other OS.
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Believe it or not, but Dot-Matrix printers still serve a purpose. They can do something no other printer can: They can work with carbon-copy.
And, believe it or not, in some fields, a "genuine" carbon copy is the only kind of copy that is legally acceptable...
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They also are used quite commonly as a device for creating a paper logging trail for fire and security systems, because they can print a single line and feed a single line without having to buffer a full page and risk losing it in a power outage or something, or wasting an unbelievable amount of paper.
Re:About Time (Score:4, Interesting)
Tell me about it. I have a HP LJ1100. One of the last HP printers that were actually ... well, at least tolerable. And, believe it or not, you still get toners for it.
The caveat? It's a LPT printer. You know, "parallel port". The old ones who remember when the MCP was still a chess program will know what I'm talking about (or who get that joke, same group of people). TRY, seriously, TRY to get a contemporary Windows to acknowledge the existence of that printer.
A driver from HP? You got more zingers like that?
The only solution I have is to use a Linux print server with a parallel card. And yes, that works flawlessly.
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The only solution I have is to use a Linux print server with a parallel card. And yes, that works flawlessly.
You can't find a JetDirect box, or some equivalent?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/12564... [ebay.com]
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That Linux server is my main storage box along with the MVS emulator anyway, so it can as well pull another weight as the printserver.
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Are those parallel port cards (I assume PCIe) supported in standard kernel builds, or do you need to roll your own?
Hope Zebra jumps on board (Score:3)
Otherwise Windows is out of the warehouse.
Good Riddance (Score:4, Interesting)
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Have you implemented any device restriction policies? Specifically ones to block e.g. SPP RFCOMM or OBEX?
Re:Good Riddance (Score:5, Informative)
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ahhahahaHaahAHahahhaha
It's absurdly obvious what's happening there
Lines 1-6 are your PC resharing your printer, you chose that option!
The remainder lines are the same printer (and its scanner) presented via multiple protocols between which you can choose.
You've been a "linux admin" for "23 years" and you find this confusing?
hahAHAHahAHHAHAaHAHAHA
It's about time!!!! (Score:3)
For the most part, printer functionality has been for the most part the same for the last..... several years.
As with others already mentioning, it's great not having to fight with 4521345 drivers and 234123 specific apps tied to printer drivers.
This move is received by admins openly.
Heft (Score:5, Informative)
When I was looking for a new printer about 15 years ago, a relative was showing off his all-in-one HP. It did have nice, if slow, inkjet printouts. And, the control panel let you do things quickly, like scan or make copies. However, the "driver" suite was nearly 400MB, and installed stuff that broke his system to the point he had to use Windows restore to put things back in order. It stopped working when he upgraded from XP to Windows 7, even though it said it was compatible.
I ended up buying an office-grade Xerox laser printer. I think it cost $100 more than the HP on sale. The drivers came with Windows. It sits on the network and, when I bring up a new machine, it's automatically found and configured. It has four color toner cart that can be replaced with 3rd party units for $15 each. It's run with no issues since then. My relative has gone through three more HP printers in the same time span.
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At about the same time I needed to replace an HP laserjet 3, searched ebay & found a Xerox 6125 locally, £5 (buyer collects - it's heavy)
Little later found someone clearing out some office supplies and got half a dozen of each colour cartridges and a print head for around the same price, couple of quid postage.
Printer sits on my network, everyone in the house uses it, just works. Driver is held on the printer itself (what a stupid idea, the printer has its own driver in its own storage - that wil
Relevant data (Score:5, Informative)
The Register could have saved a lot of speculation by including a link to the related Microsoft content.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en... [microsoft.com]
From that page:
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That'll work fine... (Score:3)
I hope it extends to things like my Brother MFC-L2750DW multifunction... love the printer... HATE the software.
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If you think Brother's driver is bad, you live a very sheltered (or let's rather say, Brother-spoiled) life.
Brother's drivers are a PITA. I give you that, as a user of a MFC-L8690CDW. The software is ... erhm... let's say I like the hardware and I put up with a lot to have that hardware.
But if you EVER had to suffer from HP or Canon drivers, you start to ADORE Brother's driver software. Believe me that!
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I hope it extends to things like my Brother MFC-L2750DW multifunction... love the printer... HATE the software.
My Brother 2750 Works great for both printing and scanning from my Mac and iPhone using AirPrint, which is a "driverless" Zeroconf Printing System that preceded Mopria by several years.
This article may help:
https://www.unlockboot.com/ins... [unlockboot.com]
Idiots (Score:2)
There is, after all, always that important customer with a strange old printer lacking Mopria support.
Or a person who just doesn't want to pay $200 for a new printer, when the existing one works perfectly well.
Re:Idiots (Score:5, Funny)
Hello, Microsoft! Welcome to Group! (Score:4, Insightful)
Drivers for printers included in the OS?
Welcome! You'll fit right in with our decades old members.
Cookies and diet Pepsi are in the back.
- Linux
- *BSD
- Android
- IOS
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They need to be careful (Score:2)
Some extremely obscure and specialized printers will still require customized drivers
Some very expensive specialized printers are still in service long after becoming obsolete
There is a lot more to the windows user base than common hardware
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Don't worry, they'll have a "cloud" solution to that, which you can pay for monthly, forever!
Oh if only there was a Standard.... (Score:2, Informative)
That worked across multiple Operating Systems... oh, right there is one. CUPS (https://openprinting.github.io/cups/). *sigh*
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Not so fast (Score:5, Interesting)
Everyone's in here all excited about this, but in reality here's what will change. Spoiler: It's worse!
Old: File -> Print -> Vendor Dialog Box -> Vendor Driver -> Spooler -> Printer
New: File -> Print -> Microsoft Dialog Box -> Spooler -> Vendor app that emulates a printer and runs all the time -> Printer that has no functionality without vendor app
Yeah, can't wait.
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Capitalism wins every time and printer manufacturers need to inject those ads to make you buy more ink and sign up for costly subscription programs that you forget to cancel.
I do agree anyone thinking that they will be able to drop printer manufacturer mandatory bloatware is delusional. If anything this will give them an excuse to sell you a new printer so they're all for it. They'll even give you a free X day trial for their ink program so long as you give them a bank account number! So generous.
The price of GDI printers (Score:2)
I must be the first pessimist here... (Score:5, Interesting)
...because this sounds like a train wreck as far as I'm concerned, for a number of my clients at work.
Yes, In This Thread, we hear the tales of folks who download the default HP Smart Installer driver bundles that add a metric ton of crap to systems and add incessant notifications...and yes, those going away is a good thing. But this is Slashdot...if you have an ID lower than mine, I fully expect you to know to go to the support site and download the 'basic driver' that has everything you need, nothing you don't.
If we define a 'printer' as "a piece of equipment that takes data from Word / Excel / Edge and puts it on an 8x11 piece of paper after HP has charged them a king's ransom for ink", then yes, Airprint / Mopria work wonderfully.
However, there are plenty of things which do not fit that category.
I've got architects with 48" plotters for architectural drawings. Those printers have a metric ton of different settings and configurations that the architects use extensively. That's going to be hell.
I've got farmer's markets that have a custom label printer for the different items. The size and shape of the labels are handled in the printer driver config area. That's going to be hell.
I've got retail stores with Windows-based point-of-sale terminals that print receipts on thermal paper. The stored logo header and command code to cut the receipt is implemented...in the printer driver config area. That's going to be hell.
Not to be finished with those retail stores...a different command code handles whether or not the cash drawer opens, which is sent via the receipt printer, and implemented...in the print driver config area. That's going to be hell.
I've got a machine shop that does custom engraving on wood and metal, and another that does engraving on glass bottles. Guess what those engravers technically show up as? That's right - printers. They have custom drivers that handle depth, intensity, and a number of other parameters that don't apply to regular printers. That's going to be hell.
Microsoft keeps trying to turn Windows into ChromeOS...but they can't read the room. If Google is giving away ChromeOS Flex for free, and people are still actively using Windows, it's due to either a conscious choice or a dependency on some Windows specific software. Nadella sees the Legacy Windows UI and Win32 API and software library as an albatross...but it's literally the only reason people still use Windows. You can tell the contempt they have for the old-boring-and-useful model because of the trash job they did with "new Outlook". The thing doesn't have Rules or open PST files or connect to IMAP servers or CalDAV calendars...it's this "excessive streamlining" that will cause a mass exodus in the coming years.
Re:I must be the first pessimist here... (Score:5, Informative)
From the actual Microsoft article [microsoft.com], "Windows will continue to allow vendor-supplied printer drivers to be installed via separate installation packages." They just won't be hosting third-party printer drivers on Windows Update anymore.
So, for a printer to "just work" automatically when plugged in, it'll need to support the new standards, which is fine for typical consumer and office printers. For specialized industrial printers, you'll need to install the special driver manually, which probably isn't much of a big deal if the printer needs special configuration anyway; it wasn't going to "just work" out-of-the-box regardless.
Universal Drivers (Score:2)
When I go to a manufacturer's website looking for model-specific printer drivers, I often find they are pushing so-called "universal drivers" anyway. It might be that some of these are actually model-specific drivers being delivered in a monolithic package, but a lot of mainstream printers just need a standard printer language such as PCL5, PCL6, PostScript, etc.
A lot of the visible difference seems to be in the driver interface rather than the underlying printer language. I already see on Windows that the
Good! HP: You brought this on yourself! (Score:2)
cups mopria driver b/w only (Score:2)
I have a Xerox printer and a .ppd file which supports complete printer functions including colour printing. Cups throws out my .ppd driver and instead uses it's own .ppd which has limited support and only prints b/w.
Simple command... (Score:2)
Doesn't "cat file.ps > /dev/lp0", or "enscript /dev/lp0" work anymore? Shouldn't Postscript be "the universal printer driver"?
I'ts been ages since I've had a printer, and times were more civilized back then...
Re: (Score:2)
That's great (Score:2)
Sounds like this means we all have to buy new printers once we upgrade to Windows 12. Awesome.
MPS 801 (Score:2)
Will I be able to use my old Commodore MPS 801?
Re: (Score:2)
Will I be able to use my old Commodore MPS 801?
+1 Funny - if I had mod points