So people are forced to install the vendor’s bloatware. Lovely. They just keep giving people new reasons to ditch Windows entirely.
Did you read the article?
I did.
Microsoft has noted that printer manufacturers no longer need to bundle their drivers with Windows updates. Instead, they can build their Print Support Apps by leveraging the UWP development framework and distribute them through the Microsoft Store to offer customized experiences.
I read this as drivers are not required in WHCP, put it in the MS store so we can force more account signups, and you can make them download your program filled with customer experiences like ads and useless bloatware.
2026 all new drivers will not be allowed on WHCP because custom experience.
To be fair, printer drivers are, have been, and always will be shit. So chances are very high that while malice is possible, incompetence is significantly more likely in this case (pushing towards a more stable option)
hp’s ‘smart’ app is already the poster child for incompetence. give me the basic drivers-only installer.
There’s got to be an open source printer that somebody is making, right?
A lot of business class printers require no drivers, as it’s built into the printer itself. My little bw xerox printer I have at home is like this. It’s OS agnostic too. So any device on my lan can just connect to it and print.
Home consumer grade stuff is an absolute nightmare, and has been for a while now. I mostly deal with biz class stuff, but the rare time I deal with consumer grade makes me wanna pull my beard off.
postscript printers are great. one little ppd file is the ‘drivers’.
Yes this! Spending a little extra to get a good laser printer that’s made for the small office or home office makes all the difference.
I’ve got Linux computers, a Windows 10, two Macs, Android tablets, an iPad, three Android phones, two iPhones, and five Pis. None of them have problems printing to my Brother laser printer out of box without a driver via IPP.
The shitty consumer, we’re just selling you ink in a roundabout way, kinds of printers are the ones that require bloatware. Stay away from those and you’re golden.
Brother lasers are great, I always tell people to get those. Inkjets are only for photos, and even then, we’re talking at least 5-6 colour printers that start at US$500, not the cheap consumer shit at US$100 or less.
Wasn’t it precisely this question that got Richard Stallman started on the whole free (as in speech) software thing…?
Bad printer drivers already require account signups and push ads and bloatware. Whether or not the drivers are obtained from bundled OS updates (gross) or a storefront is entirely irrelevant.
Just get printers that don’t require special drivers. That would be most printers that aren’t bottom of the barrel e-waste.
Remember, the reason stalman started oben source as a thing was because of printer drivers
Does Microsoft sell first-party printers? Even then this would seem shortsighted. Why would they remove a helpful platform feature that their industry position gives them an advantage in?
They are going to basically force printer manufacturers to use the Microsoft store. The goal I assume is to drive traffic to the Microsoft store so that people get more used to using it.
Ah, ok, I’m out of the loop on that
I might be wrong, but it sounds like those third-party drivers have largely been rendered obsolete?
Why do they need drivers ? They all do the same thing, just print dots, they don’t even have character ROMs anymore.
FFS, a printer is literally the simplest thing you can connect to a PC, its simpler than a mouse. And they are older than video screens !
Thank god for AirPrint.
That’s a funny way to spell Internet Printing Protocol
Either way, fuck unnecessary bloatware printer drivers!
