In brief: Last month, Windows 11 users became concerned when Microsoft announced significant upcoming changes in its handling of legacy printer drivers. Most users will likely not experience any disruptions; however, Microsoft recently revised its roadmap to alleviate concerns that older printer drivers will cease to function.
Microsoft recently issued a correction to its Windows Roadmap regarding ongoing support for legacy printer drivers. While the company still plans to change how the operating system interfaces with printers, the Redmond giant changed its wording to emphasize that it is no longer ending support for legacy V3 and V4 Windows printer drivers.
Microsoft informed Windows Central that it removed an entry on the Windows Roadmap that erroneously announced the end of support for V3 and V4 legacy drivers. Printers that currently work on Windows 11 will continue working for the foreseeable future.
What has changed is that the company ceased issuing new official drivers through Windows Update in January. Over the next year, Microsoft will gradually shift to prioritizing the modern Internet Printing Protocol (IPP), which it introduced with Windows 10 21H2 in November 2021, to streamline printing and scanning support across PCs and mobile devices.
Going forward, Windows Hardware Quality Labs and Windows Update will only approve updates to legacy drivers on a case-by-case basis. After January 1, 2027, printer drivers will only be released to address serious security issues.
Users with older printers can simply continue using their old drivers, which remain available through Windows Update. Moreover, third-party manufacturers can still distribute new drivers through separate downloads.
Microsoft is shifting to IPP to encourage the use of printing and scanning functions through Windows' built-in apps as opposed to proprietary software from printer manufacturers. However, third-party providers might be resistant to change. HP still encourages users to install the HP Smart app, and Epson printers steer users toward an unpopular Windows Store app that does not support Windows 11.
The shift toward a unified driver standard, initially announced in 2023, may have been inspired by the relative reliability and simplicity of printing tools for mobile devices, such as iOS's AirPrint. In this writer's experience, printing documents from an iPhone has long been quicker and less prone to error than printing from a Windows PC.