A little bit of a tempest in a teapot. It doesn’t sound like they’re actually going to stop distributing existing drivers, they’re just not accepting any new drivers or updates (unless they’re critical security updates) for those packages.
It’s hard to hear what Microsoft is saying over the sound of my 15 year-old printers running on CUPS.
lp0 on fireJust a heads up some of those old drivers are just encapsulated perl scripts with root access. Easy network target for bad actors.
“The Paper!”
Since the page and article have multiple dark patterns, here’s the meat of the story:
Microsoft is changing the way it handles printer manufacturer drivers in Windows 11, which could affect people using very old printers. But you can get around it.
The tech giant is phasing out support for older, legacy printer drivers, known as v3 and v4 drivers. While the move will likely affect only a small number of owners, it’s worth checking whether you’ll be affected.
Got an older printer? Here’s what you can do
If you have problems, you can still download the correct driver directly from the printer manufacturer’s website. Go to the official website of your printer’s manufacturer and search for your model in the Support or Drivers section.
It’s worth noting that after a fresh Windows 11 installation, or when setting up a new user profile, Windows may install a generic printer driver instead of the manufacturer’s own version. Basic printing should still work, but some features such as scanning might be missing. All you need to do is go to your printer manufacturer’s website and download the correct driver from there.
Beware of dodgy drivers
At Which? Tech Support, we’ve seen an increase in people being charged for drivers. You should never pay for a driver as they are free from the manufacturer. Always go directly to your manufacturer’s website so you’re not at risk of this.
Changes to printer drivers can cause some confusion, and scammers often take advantage of that. For example, watch out for any pop-ups that claim you have a ‘driver error’ and ask you to call a phone number – this is a common scam technique.
For peace of mind, use the official support pages for these major brands:
You can still install the drivers, you just don’t get them through windows update. I hate when windows update touches my drivers without my permission, so this sounds like a win-win.
Microbloat is deprecating something? That’s new. Do AI next.
We have an old HP D110 (I think). Worked just fine with Windows 10. Works fine with Linux. Built my wife a new PC with Windows 11, and now it will only print 1 page every few minutes. Windows 11 never marks the print job as complete, so you have to wait for it to error out before it will start the next job. Microslop at its finest.
I have a similar issue. I am considering running a VM just to be able to print and scan.
Linux: where you run a VM because niche proprietary software won’t run on Linux.
Windows: where you run a VM because a multibillion dollar company can’t figure out generic printer drivers as well as underpaid (or volunteer) open-source developers.
If AI were causing real automation improvements and productivity gains, shouldn’t they be extending support, if anything?
They seem to be contracting on all fronts except their datacenters. With a little luck, Micros**t will die out with a huge bang in a few years. The world will instantly become a better place for everyone…
Instantly?
Hospitals, telecoms, schools, universities, research labs the world over would be left without security updates or tech support. Businesses would crash out, access to everything from Sharepoint to Outlook to Entra ID SSO cut off rendering tens of millions unable to work and likely furloughed or redundant.
Enjoy your accelerationist fantasies if you like, daring to assume that the void would be filled by fucking Linux Mint or something and not literally just Apple. But the idea that it would be instant is even more unhinged than the average .ml stammering about the misunderstood virtues of Russian anti-Imperialism.
Windows 11 bricked my PSC I have had since 2000 and it worked fine on 10.
