MS to alleviate oldest printing afflictions

Microsoft hopes to alleviate one of the oldest PC afflictions known to man: finding and installing printer drivers, reports Cnet.

Getting drivers to work properly has always been a daunting task for many. A seemingly straightforward procedure can turn ugly in an instant. And while driver installation has generally gotten better with each iteration of Windows, printer manufacturers always seem to find a way to gum up the works.

In a post on the Building Windows 8 blog, Microsoft engineer Andrian Lannin explains how Microsoft is designing a print class driver framework to replace the current Windows printing system, writes Life Hacker.

Supporting printers has traditionally required Microsoft to ship drivers as part of Windows. Ensuring popular printers are supported will satisfy a large proportion of users, but it's a moving target as new printer models are released.

The framework can support additional printers over time and allows manufacturers to support upcoming devices, but it's tightly controlled to ensure device drivers are power-efficient and it also separates the user interface part of printing, according to The Verge.

As a result, Microsoft has reduced the amount of disk space for print drivers from 768MB in Windows Vista to around 184MB in Windows 8. The combination of cutting old device support and an improved framework means Windows 8 should support around 2 500 printers out of the box when it ships later this year, compared to 2 100 printers in Windows 7.

Installation times are also reduced with Microsoft's new model, thanks to the print spooler being able to select the correct printer driver from a driver store, rather than having to copying it there. Overall, it appears that Microsoft is cleaning up a common task in Windows with Metro style printing support and in-box drivers that are relevant to today's devices.