Microsoft to End Servicing of Third-Party Print Drivers on Windows

On September 6th, Microsoft announced that it’s ending servicing of legacy v3 and v4 Windows print drivers.

The end of servicing will be staged over multiple years. By 2025, no new print drivers will be published to Windows Update. By 2027, except for security-related fixes, third-party print-driver updates will no longer be allowed.

The company explained that 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, etc. 

Device-experience customization is now available via the Print Support Apps that are distributed and automatically installed via the Windows Store. This framework is said to improve reliability and performance by moving customization from the Win32 framework to the UWP software development framework. Finally, printer manufacturers no longer have to rebuild their software, since this solution is supported across all Windows versions and editions.

For more information on Microsoft and print driver, visit Microsoft here.