Microsoft is planning to kill third party printer drivers

If you have ever worked with computers in the last few decades, you're probably more than familiar with both printers and the concept of drivers. Two separate things have been the bane of our existence for as long as computers have been around, and when you combined the two you were guaranteed to be in for a thoroughly entertaining afternoon. This is because there was no real "standard" for how the process of printing should be accomplished between the different companies and traditionally, the responsibility of drivers fell almost entirely on the manufacturers, and as such were the ones who controlled what software you needed to run to print out an essay. As a result, most consumer-grade printers have been fucking us over for decades when it comes to drivers because they were often bloated shit with extra nasty surprises. Let's have a moment of silence for anyone with an HP printer.


However, the landscape and future of printer communication and usage is changing. A couple of years ago, a bunch of printer companies came together and decided that a universal standard for printers and scanners might actually be a good idea, and thus the Mopria standard was formed. This was a massive boon for anyone with a smartphone or tablet because in theory, it meant that they didn't have to actively seek out drivers for their printers specifically and could just use a generic built-in service or Mopria's official print service, both of which would be usable across multiple different printers of various types and sizes. Despite this genuine innovation, it took until the release of Windows 10 21H2 and Windows 11 for this standard to be adopted by default in the built-in Windows drivers. We are currently in a weird state where printer manufacturers can use both the Mopria standard and also their printer-specific drivers.

Microsoft is planning on ending support for third party printer drivers. On September 6, 2023, they announced their plans with an article in their documentation section that gave an overview which explained what was happening, why it was happening, and when it was happening and over the course of a few months clarified certain points and eventually gave an exact date as for what's in store for the next few years. On the first of July of each year for the next 3 years, Microsoft will increasingly tighten the regulations regarding printer drivers with Windows Update in particular, as listed below:

• 2025: No new drivers will be added to Windows Update, but existing ones can still be updated on a case-by-case basis.
• 2026: Printer driver priorities will be adjusted so that Windows will prefer the built-in drivers over the third party ones where possible.
• 2027: Unless it's for security fixes, printer drivers on Windows Update will no longer be updated.

The article does note that existing drivers will continue to be hosted on Windows Update and users can still choose to get the drivers directly from the manufacturer. This is, however, the first nail in what will be a much-deserved coffin for the antiquated printer driver system as it'll be on life support once 2027 rolls around. Since Windows Update is considered a convenient way for many people's computers to get drivers for their hardware, the inability to get drivers conveniently with Windows Update like before may drive manufacturers to adopt Microsoft's new system for the Windows side of things, hopefully making the world of printing much less of a headache for consumers and sysadmins alike.

I have been waiting for this moment for a very long time. To me, one of the many motivators for getting an Epson printer was to get no-nonsense drivers. HP's drivers were always a fucking treat to deal with because of their godforsaken bloat even under Linux, and yet I needed them because the fucker's scanner wouldn't work without them. Epson's, on the other hand, were much less nonsensical and more straightforward, but with Windows I've found that you don't even need them to use the main functions of the printer. I found out about this because even though I have not installed any drivers for it, on my desktop and my laptop Windows seemingly defaulted to using the built-in drivers for both the printer and the scanner, and it just works. That was never possible with HP's proprietary bullshit. I guess the future can be pretty cool.