It’s official, starting in 2027, Windows Update will no longer support the deployment of driver updatesprinters from third-party manufacturers. Microsoft is changing its policy in this area to improve the experience, of course… but in the long term.
Installing and using a printer in Windows is going to get easier, but before that, prepare for a big shake-up.
In a press release shared last week, Microsoft details the main stages of the battle plan which will allow it to push forward its proprietary Microsoft IPP driver. It is the latter, along with Mopria-compliant printing devices (native support introduced with version 21H2 of Windows 10), which will improve the experience for many users in a few years.
Microsoft wants to simplify our relationship with printers
Here is the plan, very incremental, revealed by Microsoft:
- September 2023: first announcements.
- 2025: Manufacturers will no longer be able to publish new printer drivers in Windows Update (but they will be able to continue to maintain and update existing drivers).
- 2026: Changed printer driver ranking in Windows Update so that Windows starts favoring the Microsoft IP driver.
- 2027: Third-party printer driver updates will no longer be available in Windows Update, except for security-related fixes (but existing third-party drivers will still be accessible).
The objective of these changes is to allow Microsoft to gradually regain control over the deployment of printer driver updates. And for good reason, they will emanate directly from him in the future. This new feature should make it possible to improve the reliability of future generations of printers, their compatibility between different versions of Windows, as well as their performance.
Source : Microsoft / Neowin
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