Which manufacturer has a good history of updating drivers for their laser printers?

[Kestas]

I have a good laser printer, gently used, around 6 years old, that was given to me. I can't use it because the manufacturer refuses to update the driver for it to operate on Windows 11. This is infuriating. Is there a manufacturer that doesn't play these obsolescence games?

 

[Elkins45]

Can’t you use a generic PostScript driver? You might not be able to access some advanced features like duplexing, but you should be able to do basic printing.

 

[Lubener]

I have a good laser printer, gently used, around 6 years old, that was given to me. I can't use it because the manufacturer refuses to update the driver for it to operate on Windows 11. This is infuriating. Is there a manufacturer that doesn't play these obsolescence games?

It's six years old. Don't hold your breath for a driver update at this point.

 

[redhat]

If it is an HP laser and it’ll accept PCL, feed it a LaserJet 4 driver or LaserJet 4Plus if it duplexes and turn it on under settings.

For ages… every and any HP PCL got a LJ4 on my Citrix farms. I might be dating my young self.

 

[Rand]

Brother?

 

[daves87rs]

From what I’ve seen— None. Just lost my HP printer thanks to this……

 

[Pelican]

BROTHER ! You can down load their Firmware Update Tool & update whenever you want.

 

[riff1006]

I've had the same Brother laser printer/copier/scanner/fax for at least 10 years and can still download drivers for it.

 

[dubber09]

Canon printers improved a lot lately, we at work went pretty much all Canon replacing HP and Lexmark printers, Ricoh and Konica; only Australian offices went with Fujifilm which are basically Xerox.
We bought a color laser Canon for home office use for wife, I got a written off color laser Lexmark from work and also have photo ink jet Epson. HP laser printers are generally good but are little more expensive in toner.
I think the trick with drivers is to get a printer model that's in a series they make for a long time and don't plan to discontinue and is not cheapest bottom line.

 

[Carmudgeon]

Printer drivers are one of those things that don't have to be a perfect match, or "officially-supported" to function.

OSes don't typically receive major architectural renovations from versions to version, and printer hardware architectures even less so.

I don't keep current with the kind of changes MS makes in Windows, but I don't believe W11 has a revamped printing framework over W10, or even W7, which leaves the possibility that an older driver would function fine if installed in W11.

On the Mac side, I'm using a driver who support ended with a version of the OS five versions behind the current version, and it functions fine, even if unsupported. There has been one major change in the printing framework with Macs, moving to IPP protocol-based driverless printing (AirPrint) which began many years ago, but even though the old driver-based CUPS framework has been deprecated, for the time being remains in the system, allowing old drivers to be installed and function. My printer, a Brother, is 12-13 years old and works with the latest OS, using a driver from five-years ago when support ended.

Another old trick to is troll the manufacturer's sites from other countries, and see if they're still updating the driver. Support can vary from market to market, and they can be a source of functional drivers.

TLDR -- one doesn't necessarily have to buy a new printer for the latest OS; there are probably fine workarounds, albeit unsupported. Brother has been good, but is slowly sliding into the slimy captive-supply business that other brands, lead by HP, have engaged in. I'd have to be desperate to buy something from HP, or the pioneer in such shenanigans, Lexmark (trying to thrwart 3rd-party supplies using the DMCA). And as such…

BROTHER ! You can down load their Firmware Update Tool & update whenever you want.

… I'd be wary of installing any firmware updates, where never versions have been found to cripple user's hardware from accepting aftermarket supplies, or just plain bricking them (unintentionally) altogether. (Hello HP! -- a brand now far removed from the one founders started, and the principles they stood for).

 

[factorytuned2012]

I have a good laser printer, gently used, around 6 years old, that was given to me. I can't use it because the manufacturer refuses to update the driver for it to operate on Windows 11. This is infuriating. Is there a manufacturer that doesn't play these obsolescence games?

I have a brother that’s around 8-9 yrs old and still works just fine with iOS chrome and pc devices.

 

[Rand]

yep brother dcp-7065dn
aug 2013 still chuggin.

 

[jcy]

sounds like a skill issue

 

[alarmguy]

I have a Cannon MF 445 DW laser jet. Love the unit but the software sucks on Apple devices. It works fine now but sometimes over the last couple years I was pulling my hair out over their software bugs, Apple and Cannon couldnt figure it out. However, somehow it works. They do have firmware updates but at this point I think I would like a Brother.

 

[Rand]

I have a good laser printer, gently used, around 6 years old, that was given to me. I can't use it because the manufacturer refuses to update the driver for it to operate on Windows 11. This is infuriating. Is there a manufacturer that doesn't play these obsolescence games?

These threads are sad without basic information such as what laser printer brand and model.. there might be a workaround or some help to be found instead of basically a complaint thread.

 

[jcy]

These threads are sad without basic information such as what laser printer brand and model.. there might be a workaround or some help to be found instead of basically a complaint thread.

yes the win10 driver for OP's printer very likely works on win11, OP is prob wasting money by giving up on it

 

[Kestas]

I can find drivers compatible with Windows 10, but not for Windows 11. I won't give up just yet, if there is some way I can get it to work. I'd like to have a printer in Florida without buying one.

I'll get the model information once I get back home to Michigan next week.

 

[ripcord]

Still rocking a HP LaserJet from 1998 under Windows 10 using PCL5 drivers. I'll put in some effort to keep it running as long as possible because it's almost entirely trouble free and toner is dirt cheap still compared to the Brother in my wife's office.

 

[Rand]

Still rocking a HP LaserJet from 1998 under Windows 10 using PCL5 drivers. I'll put in some effort to keep it running as long as possible because it's almost entirely trouble free and toner is dirt cheap still compared to the Brother in my wife's office.

That must be some cheep dirt my toners last time I purchased were $6.

 

[ripcord]

That must be some cheep dirt my toners last time I purchased were $6.

That is cheap. I think I paid $20 for a pack of two toner cartridges that supposedly print 6k pages. I can usually refill a cartridge with bulk toner a couple of times before they go develop issues.