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Microsoft to Drop Support for Third-Party Printer Drivers on Windows (petri.com)

submitted 9 months ago by NotBadAndYou@ttrpg.network to c/technology@beehaw.org

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“With the release of Windows 10 21H2, Windows offers inbox support for Mopria compliant printer devices over network and USB interfaces via the Microsoft IPP Class Driver. This removes the need for print device manufacturers to provide their own installers, drivers, utilities, and so on.  Device experience customization is now available via the Print Support Apps that are distributed and automatically installed via the Windows Store,” the company wrote.

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[-] jordanlund@lemmy.one 82 points 9 months ago

"via Windows Update" - key piece of info missing from the headline "for some reason".

Yeah, I don't see a need for Windows update to do any 3rd party stuff.

[-] Joker@beehaw.org 40 points 9 months ago

Why not? We essentially have this in the Linux world and it’s great. You have a package manager that pulls from your distro’s repositories and it’s filled with all kinds of software, although most drivers come packaged with the kernel. Most stuff is completely plug and play. You end up with one click (or command) software installations for just about everything so you’re not hunting around the internet and downloading installers. Everything you need, including dependencies, gets pulled in and it stays up to date without every app bundling it’s own updater. It’s super convenient.

[-] jordanlund@lemmy.one 21 points 9 months ago

Because Microsoft manages Windows update, it's not like a package manager in Linux.

I don't want Microsoft telling me when I should update an Epson printer driver.

[-] hascat@programming.dev 9 points 9 months ago

So you want Epson to provide you with a separately application which runs in the background to tell you when to update? Why split the responsibility?

[-] jordanlund@lemmy.one 3 points 9 months ago

Because Microsoft has no more business managing Epson applications than Epson does, I dunno, Kensington or Belkin.

[-] interolivary@beehaw.org 4 points 9 months ago

It's not like Microsoft would be managing them, just providing the repository. I really fail to see how having N+1 separate application update mechanisms (possibly running in the background) would be better than having a central one. Sure, it's managed by Microsoft but if you have a problem with that I'm not sure what you're doing using Windows in the first place