i dont understand whats the need for  


  1. Posts : 469
    Win 7 home premium 32 bit
       #1

    i dont understand whats the need for


    various printer drivers, can microsoft make a universal driver which will work with every printer wether inkjet or laser etc.

    the same can be said about dvdrom, audio n lan etc
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 28,845
    Win 8 Release candidate 8400
       #2

    kf10 said:
    various printer drivers, can microsoft make a universal driver which will work with every printer wether inkjet or laser etc.

    the same can be said about dvdrom, audio n lan etc
    Never going to happen. Untill every printer is made identical the will be no universal driver. Same holds true for dvds, audio, lan, video drivers, etc.



    Ken J
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 5,056
    Windows 7 x64 pro/ Windows 7 x86 Pro/ XP SP3 x86
       #3

    Actually Universal printer drivers (UPDs) are not such an alien concept- theres one from Xerox available, another from HP. Problem is they are not completely universal. Different printers use different formats E.g. HP's PCL format or postscript format etc. So HP UPDs work only with HP branded printers, Xerox's only with PS and so on.

    Another flipside to UPDs is as with all generic drivers, some of the printer's features (advanced features or fax/scan with multifunctional devices) may not be available. Those will be available only from the manufacturer specific drivers.

    So, unless you are a frequent traveller or a company that uses printers of various vintages and brands, you'd be loosing by using UPDs.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 5,941
    Linux CENTOS 7 / various Windows OS'es and servers
       #4

    Hi there

    In principle it could be done very easily -- say all Windows or other OS would have to do would be to produce some "meta" type output according to a defined standard -- Postcript for example or a similar concept in Linux called Ghostscript.

    However the hardware's firmware or "Microcode" would still have to interpret the Postscript metadata to perform the actual device output.

    I've been a long time advocate of common interfaces -- if we could leave all the actual hardware instructions to the firmware we could have Universal drivers for almost every possible hardware device in existence.

    I'm really surprised why MS hasn't at least got together with EPSON, CANON and HP at least to propose something like this -- it makes Windows development easier while still maintaining the Intellectual Property rights of EPSON etc.

    Maybe Windows 8 will start looking at this type of approach.

    Cheers

    jimbo
      My Computer


 

  Related Discussions
Our Sites
Site Links
About Us
Windows 7 Forums is an independent web site and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Microsoft Corporation. "Windows 7" and related materials are trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

© Designer Media Ltd
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 20:02.
Find Us