Microsoft no longer stocks third-party printer drivers

Third-party printer drivers will no longer receive support from Microsoft in the near future. The company announced this week.

Microsoft previously announced that third-party printer drivers will no longer receive support in the near future week on me.

Why

Since the launch of Windows 10 21H2, Microsoft has supported Mopria-compatible printing systems over network and USB interfaces via the Microsoft IPP Class Driver. This eliminates the need for printer manufacturers to develop separate drivers. They no longer have to adapt their own systems to all versions and editions of Windows.

With this, Microsoft will stop servicing legacy v3 and v4 printer drivers for Windows. The company is aware that this affects many users and therefore suggests a (temporary) timeline:

• September 2023: first ads
• 2025: Manufacturers can no longer publish new drivers for Windows Update (although they can still maintain and update existing ones)
• 2026: Microsoft is changing the driver order in favor of the IPP class driver
• 2027: Updates for third-party drivers are no longer available, except for security issues (these drivers remain accessible)

Windows will still allow third-party installation of drivers, but via separate installation packages. There will also be no problem installing already produced printers on a Windows computer.

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In other recent Microsoft news, we saw earlier this week that the company is penalizing you when you organize photos into folders on OneDrive, and that it wants to make extra money from its communications platform Teams. The latest change in Windows is the disappearance of Wordpad after several decades of faithful service.