Reform plan revealed: Microsoft plans to stop supporting third-party printer drivers

News on September 7, Microsoft recently announced a major plan to completely change the printer driver ecosystem on the Windows operating system. Under the plan, Microsoft will phase out support for third-party printer drivers and will instead adopt its own IPP-like drivers and Mopria-compatible printing devices to improve performance, reliability, and ensure broad compatibility across various Windows versions. .

The idea behind this plan is to simplify printer driver management and eliminate the need for users to obtain dedicated installers and drivers from manufacturers. Microsoft emphasizes that this policy will further improve the printing experience while still providing users with an alternative way to download printer drivers. Additionally, manufacturers will still have the opportunity to offer customers customized printing capabilities, but these will be available through the Microsoft Store app.

The change will be implemented gradually over a number of years to ensure users and manufacturers have enough time to adapt. According to the timeline, starting in 2025, manufacturers will no longer be able to release new printer drivers, but existing drivers will still be able to be serviced and updated. By 2026, Microsoft will modify the ranking order of printer drivers to give priority to built-in IPP class drivers. Finally, by 2027, updates to third-party printer drivers will no longer be available, except for security-related fixes, but existing third-party drivers will still work.

According to the editor’s understanding, this policy change will affect users of all Windows versions, and Microsoft also plans to use Mopria certification as a Hardware Lab Kit necessary to ensure printer compatibility with various devices, including PCs, smartphones, tablets, etc. This move is aimed at further improving users' printing experience, and although it may cause some inconvenience to users who rely on specific third-party drivers, Microsoft emphasizes that they will not prevent users from continuing to use separate installation packages or from existing printers. Removed functionality from driver.

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