Apple's Snow Leopard to load printer drivers on demand

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
As part of Apple's plans to help trim the footprint of Mac OS X Snow Leopard, the new system will cease the customary installation of several gigabytes of printer drivers and instead load only the files necessary for existing devices, relying on Software Update to obtain new drivers in the future as needed.



Prepared for anything



Back in the late 80s, Apple began bundling PPD files for various PostScript printers with its System Software. The files identified features specific to each model, making it simple for users to take full advantage of each model. However, as the consumer market for printers expanded, expensive PostScript licensing was left behind for simpler and cheaper alternatives that relied on custom driver software unique to each printer manufacturer.



Microsoft began installing lots of third party printer drivers with the installation of Windows to make it simpler for users to install their printer without needing to obtain printer software themselves, a practice Apple also adopted. However, as printer manufacturers have expanded their printer software offerings to differentiate their hardware with special software features such as ink management and other add on utilities, the size of driver software has expanded rapidly.



Additionally, printer drivers are being updated more frequently and new printer models are appearing quickly enough to make it hard for operating system releases to stay current. Both Apple and Microsoft now support the ability of printer installation software to search for new or updated drivers online; Leopard began handling updates for HP drivers in 2007.



Just in time downloads



With the release of Snow Leopard this spring, Apple will put an end to the default installation of tons of drivers, according to people familiar with the latest test releases of the software. Instead, it will only install a select subset of drivers, including support for any currently attached printers or those that had been installed on the same Mac under previous versions of Mac OS X.



Sources say the system will review devices attached via USB and will scan the network for any printers advertised as available via Bonjour in order to create a short list of drivers that need to be installed. Any new printers that are attached after the installation of Snow Leopard will cause Software Update to check for drivers online.







This new policy will shave several unnecessary gigabytes from the Snow Leopard footprint, compounding the savings related to the new HFS+ file compression for compacting read only files and the compression and/or removal of unnecessary NIB files that will result in a greatly reduced size of applications on the new system.



Skinny new software



A similar practice has been put into place in GarageBand 09, which offers a series of free video instructions for learning how to play instruments. Rather than installing all of the videos by default, the new app allows users to download just the lessons they want, saving considerable disk space.



The same policy could also be applied to foreign language localization files and fonts, which currently consume lots of disk space but are only used by relatively small portions of the Mac OS X user base.



While software developers have historically relied on the luxury of constantly expanding, cheap hard drive space to ignore any need to be conservative in the amount of files loaded during installation, Apple's interest in deploying systems that use more expensive but faster SSD devices has resulted in new efforts to make Snow Leopard smaller and leaner than the system it replaces.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 88
    kindredmackindredmac Posts: 153member
    Don't most of us do this already??



    Whenever I do a fresh install of Leopard or earlier, I always only check the print drivers for the printers in my home, only Epson. Why would I need Lexmark or HP or Canon drivers? I never print wirelessly when out and about so no worries there about running into a strange printer on a network.



    Oh and language support? Chucked out the window with the print drivers too.



    But I have to say that I do like that Apple is being proactive with trimming the OS install.
  • Reply 2 of 88
    rbonnerrbonner Posts: 635member
    Only downside I see is when working in an environment w/o internet access, and you need the driver.



    Hoping you can pre-install what you need.
  • Reply 3 of 88
    presskatpresskat Posts: 6member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    As part of Apple's plans to help trim the footprint of Mac OS X Snow Leopard, the new system will cease the customary installation of several gigabytes of printer drivers and instead load only the files necessary for existing devices, relying on Software Update to obtain new drivers in the future as needed.



    The same policy could also be applied to foreign language localization files and fonts, which currently consume lots of disk space but are only used by relatively small portions of the Mac OS X user base.



    While software developers have historically relied on the luxury of constantly expanding, cheap hard drive space to ignore any need to be conservative in the amount of files loaded during installation, Apple's interest in deploying systems that use more expensive but faster SSD devices has resulted in new efforts to make Snow Leopard smaller and leaner than the system it replaces.



    Excellent move by Apple to make things tidier.
  • Reply 4 of 88
    kasperkasper Posts: 941member, administrator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KindredMac View Post


    Don't most of us do this already??



    Whenever I do a fresh install of Leopard or earlier, I always only check the print drivers for the printers in my home, only Epson. Why would I need Lexmark or HP or Canon drivers? I never print wirelessly when out and about so no worries there about running into a strange printer on a network.



    Oh and language support? Chucked out the window with the print drivers too.



    But I have to say that I do like that Apple is being proactive with trimming the OS install.



    The majority of average consumers --not power users who may be forum members -- don't tinker with custom installs, is my bet. So this will have a positive affect on more people that you may think



    Kasper
  • Reply 5 of 88
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    I also like dumping these things, but I often have to print to machines that aren't connected to my network, so I do need some of those drivers. I hope there will be some way to retain the ones we want.
  • Reply 6 of 88
    kasperkasper Posts: 941member, administrator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by melgross View Post


    I also like dumping these things, but I often have to print to machines that aren't connected to my network, so I do need some of those drivers. I hope there will be some way to retain the ones we want.



    The whole concept is that SL will immediately search and obtain drivers for new wired and wireless printers as they're connected to a Mac running SL. So the only issue would be printing to a new printer in the absence of an internet connection to query SW Update.
  • Reply 7 of 88
    johnjjohnj Posts: 2member
    I agree that Apple needs to cut down the install size, but rather than using the software update mechanism, they should be rolling out a Mac OS X app store and offering all printer driver installations as free apps.



    Using an app store model would allow people to get the full installations (scanner software, ink management, etc...) rather than just a simple print driver.



    Plus it would keep the software update doing what it is meant to do - update existing software - not install new software. Remember how pissed the windows people got a year or so ago when apple installed safari by default when updating iTunes/QT??? Separating the two activities (updating and installing) would be a terrifically intelligent PR move.
  • Reply 8 of 88
    bluedalmatianbluedalmatian Posts: 188member
    One of the things that annoys me about an OS X install is it spends ages loading umpteen foreign languages which Im never going to needs yet it still doesnt support British English
  • Reply 9 of 88
    mdriftmeyermdriftmeyer Posts: 7,503member
    PPD files are small.



    Binary proprietary files are bloated and large. That's HP and it's custom applications which are massive and unneeded, unless you have a device [scanner/print/fax] that requires certain applications to inter-operate with the device.



    Otherwise, a straight PPD for a printer is puny.



    Here is a list of Brother PPD files:



    mdriftmeyer@horus:/usr/share/ppd/foomatic-rip/openprinting-gs-builtin/Brother$ ls -rhlt

    total 184K

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.2K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-5170DN-hl1250.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.2K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-1470N-hl1250.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.1K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-1240-hl1250.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.1K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-DCP-8045D-hl1250.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.1K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-MFC-9600-hl1250.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.2K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-720-hl7x0.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.4K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-7050-lj5gray.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2.9K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-5250DN-Postscript.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.2K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-5150D-pxlmono.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2.8K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-5140-lj5gray.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.3K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-5070N-Postscript.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.4K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-5070N-ljet4.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.2K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-5070N-hl1250.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.5K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-5050-pxlmono.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.3K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-5050-Postscript.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.2K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-5050-lj5gray.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.4K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-5040-ljet4.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.2K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-5040-lj5gray.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.5K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-5030-pxlmono.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2.9K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-4Ve-laserjet.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.0K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-4050CDN-Postscript.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2.8K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-2460-lj5gray.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.3K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-2400CeN-pxlmono.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2.8K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-2400CeN-lj5gray.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.1K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-2060-lj5gray.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.3K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-2060-hl1250.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.4K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-1870N-ljet4d.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.5K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-1870N-lj5gray.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.5K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-1870N-hl1250.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.4K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-1850-ljet4d.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.6K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-1670N-ljet4.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.7K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-1650-pxlmono.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.3K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-1650-ljet4d.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.4K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-1650-lj5gray.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.4K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-1470N-pxlmono.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.2K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-1470N-lj4dith.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.4K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-1450-pxlmono.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.2K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-1430-lj4dith.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.4K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-1270N-pxlmono.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.0K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-1260-Postscript.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2.9K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-1260-lj4dith.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.3K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-1250-lj4dith.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2.9K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-HL-1050-lj4dith.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.2K 2008-12-01 06:40 Brother-DCP-8045D-hl7x0.ppd.gz



    Here for HP:



    mdriftmeyer@horus:/usr/share/ppd/foomatic-rip/openprinting-gs-builtin/HP$ ls -rhlt

    total 592K

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6.0K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-OfficeJet_R80-cdj1600.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6.1K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_940C-cdj970.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2.9K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-Color_LaserJet_5000-lj4dith.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5.7K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-PhotoSmart_P1315-pcl3.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5.7K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-PhotoSmart_P1100-pcl3.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.0K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-PhotoSmart_P100-pjxl300.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2.5K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-PaintJet-pj.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2.7K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-OfficeJet_R45-deskjet.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5.6K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-OfficeJet_Pro_1175C-pcl3.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6.1K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-OfficeJet_G95-cdj970.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.1K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-OfficeJet_500-cdj550.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5.4K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-OfficeJet_300-pcl3.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2.7K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-OfficeJet_300-djet500.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2.9K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_Plus-ljetplus.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.7K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_9000-pxlmono.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.4K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_6-ljet4.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.5K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_4Si-lj4dith.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.2K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_4ML-lj4dith.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.4K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_4M-lj4dith.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.7K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_4100-ljet4.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.6K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_4000-pxlmono.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.1K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_3P_w_PCL5-ljet4.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2.9K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_3310_MFP-lj5gray.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.1K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_3300_MFP-pxlmono.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.4K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_3200-ljet4.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2.9K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_2-laserjet.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.2K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_1220-lj5gray.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.3K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_1220-lj4dith.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.5K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_1100A-lj4dith.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5.7K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_990C-pcl3.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6.1K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_980C-cdj970.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5.9K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_955C-cdj880.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.0K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_932C-cdj550.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5.9K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_882C-cdj850.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5.6K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_850C-pcl3.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6.0K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_815C-cdj880.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5.9K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_810C-cdj670.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6.1K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_722C-pnm2ppa.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6.1K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_712C-pnm2ppa.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2.4K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_694C-cdj550.upp.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6.0K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_690C-cdj670.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5.5K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_680C-pcl3.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5.6K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_610C-pcl3.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5.7K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_400-pcl3.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5.6K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_350C-pcl3.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5.7K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_310-pcl3.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.1K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_1600CM-Postscript.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.5K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DesignJet_750C_Plus-dnj650c.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.6K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DesignJet_5500-chp2200.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2.7K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-Color_LaserJet_5-cljet5.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.2K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-Color_LaserJet_5500-pxlmono.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.2K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-Color_LaserJet_2500-pxlmono.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.1K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-2500CM-Postscript.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5.6K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-PhotoSmart_P1215-pcl3.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6.1K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-PhotoSmart_P1100-cdj970.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.1K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-OfficeJet_T45-cdj550.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5.4K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-OfficeJet_LX-pcl3.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5.8K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-OfficeJet_635-pcl3.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2.7K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-OfficeJet_330-djet500.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.8K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_8150-pxlmono.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.5K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_5Si-lj5gray.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.4K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_4ML-ljet4.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.3K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_4M-ljet4d.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.8K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_4050-pxlmono.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.7K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_4050-lj4dith.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2.9K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_3320N_MFP-lj5gray.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.2K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_3200m-lj5gray.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.3K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_3200-lj4dith.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2.9K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_2D-ljet2p.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.1K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_2100M-lj5gray.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.2K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_1300-lj5gray.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.3K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_1300-lj4dith.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.5K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_1200-ljet4.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4.5K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-LaserJet_1015-lj4dith.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6.1K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_950C-cdj970.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.1K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_930C-cdj550.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5.6K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_880C-pcl3.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.1K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_842C-cdj550.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5.9K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_832C-cdj880.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5.9K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_810C-cdj880.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5.6K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_697C-pcl3.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.1K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_600-cdj550.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5.6K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_1120C-pcl3.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5.7K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_1100C-pcl3.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6.2K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DeskJet_1000C-pnm2ppa.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5.5K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-DesignJet_ColorPro_CAD-pcl3.ppd.gz

    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.2K 2008-12-01 06:41 HP-Color_LaserJet_4500-pxlmono.ppd.gz





    Yeah! That's the ticket! Sorry, but the big change will come from proprietary device drivers that people routinely install when they buy a device and it includes custom Preferences, Utilities people rarely, if ever use.



    Custom nibs and moving all read-only print copies of documentation [pdf.gz/ps.gz] is standard on Linux, FreeBSD and other less known platforms.



    Previewer.app, Acrobat should all be capable of reading these compressed read-only documents without the need to extract them.



    Third parties will be late to cleaning it up in their applications.



    Ultimately, hard drives with a lot of documentation laying around isn't something I'm frustated with, but applications with unnecessaryily bundled nibs and much more inside those bundles I definitely will welcome.



    We never had this problem at NeXT because our QuadFat Applications weren't all in a single bundle.



    The bundle is a nice solution when they couldn't finally nail down a streamlined and guaranteed clean installer/uninstaller solution for applications on the system.



    Of course, much of the size of Apple Bundles in their applications will be reduced due to the applications not duplicating system frameworks/private frameworks and more.



    Then again, if 3rd party app developers don't leverage those reusable frameworks in Snow Leopard their app bundles will still be quite beefy.
  • Reply 10 of 88
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Kasper View Post


    The whole concept is that SL will immediately search and obtain drivers for new wired and wireless printers as they're connected to a Mac running SL. So the only issue would be printing to a new printer in the absence of an internet connection to query SW Update.



    That's not the problem. Sometimes I have to print to a file (or softproof) using a printer driver or profile for a comp. Without having the actual printer, how would I easily obtain that profile and driver?



    I would have to search for that and bother installing them.



    It's not too difficult, but it would be an annoyance that isn't there now.
  • Reply 11 of 88
    mdriftmeyermdriftmeyer Posts: 7,503member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bluedalmatian View Post


    One of the things that annoys me about an OS X install is it spends ages loading umpteen foreign languages which Im never going to needs yet it still doesnt support British English



    Yep. I am encouraged with the consolidation of system design for 10.6 that localization has been redesigned as well.
  • Reply 12 of 88
    mdriftmeyermdriftmeyer Posts: 7,503member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by melgross View Post


    That's not the problem. Sometimes I have to print to a file (or softproof) using a printer driver or profile for a comp. Without having the actual printer, how would I easily obtain that profile and driver?



    I would have to search for that and bother installing them.



    It's not too difficult, but it would be an annoyance that isn't there now.



    I imagine the foomatic list of PPDs will be included in the DVD, just not installed with CUPS.



    Of course, as I said, PPDs are tiny. They aren't the problem.
  • Reply 13 of 88
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer View Post


    I imagine the foomatic list of PPDs will be included in the DVD, just not installed with CUPS.



    Of course, as I said, PPDs are tiny. They aren't the problem.



    The PPD's are only part of the problem. The software and paper profiles for my Canon iPF5100, for example, take up about 30 MB.
  • Reply 14 of 88
    columbuscolumbus Posts: 282member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KindredMac View Post


    Don't most of us do this already??



    Whenever I do a fresh install of Leopard or earlier, I always only check the print drivers for the printers in my home, only Epson.



    The next step is to not install the Epson ones either and go to the Epson website to download the driver for your particular brand of printer.



    The Canon driver for my printer is ~30MB, OS X wants me to install ~200MB of files to use it.



    I think not.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rbonner View Post


    Only downside I see is when working in an environment w/o internet access, and you need the driver.



    Hoping you can pre-install what you need.



    I imagine all the drivers will be on the DVD, cause otherwise there wouldn't be any point tailoring the install for your printer if there wasn't a decent pool of no drivers to start with.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bluedalmatian View Post


    One of the things that annoys me about an OS X install is it spends ages loading umpteen foreign languages which Im never going to needs yet it still doesnt support British English



    Mac OS 8.5.1 does, use that instead.



    Hopefully Apple will review. It made sense as a cost cutting measure as Apple got back to good financial health, but now they must have a big enough UK installed base to justify it.
  • Reply 15 of 88
    mariofreak85mariofreak85 Posts: 202member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by melgross View Post


    That's not the problem. Sometimes I have to print to a file (or softproof) using a printer driver or profile for a comp. Without having the actual printer, how would I easily obtain that profile and driver?



    I would have to search for that and bother installing them.



    It's not too difficult, but it would be an annoyance that isn't there now.



    I wonder if all of the drivers are included on install disk, but not installed by default. Then you would just need to customize your install.
  • Reply 16 of 88
    junkiejunkie Posts: 122member
    If they do allow localization to be added in real time that would be awesome.



    its currently a pain for developers to handle localization. Currently you have to either have several builds for each app in different languages or you have this massive download with all the localizations. its not great.



    so ideally an app would be embedded with a url to check a server for additional localizations at first or succeeding launch. localizations could then be updated without having to rev the entire app. would be awesome.
  • Reply 17 of 88
    davebarnesdavebarnes Posts: 367member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bluedalmatian View Post


    One of the things that annoys me about an OS X install is it spends ages loading umpteen foreign languages which Im never going to needs yet it still doesnt support British English



    Uh, because on October 19, 1781, General Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown.
  • Reply 18 of 88
    hezekiahbhezekiahb Posts: 448member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Kasper View Post


    The whole concept is that SL will immediately search and obtain drivers for new wired and wireless printers as they're connected to a Mac running SL. So the only issue would be printing to a new printer in the absence of an internet connection to query SW Update.



    Ok, 3rd time I've seen this argument so I gotta respond.



    Your printer came with disks, on those disks is a driver. Pop the disk in your CD-ROM & install those drivers. Boom, all done! Of course who is to say that the install disk won't have all existing drivers on it that you can download. They're trimming the footprint of the OS, not the install disk.



    Still need internet to get latest & greatest but how is that any different from now? Seriously people.
  • Reply 19 of 88
    pxtpxt Posts: 683member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rbonner View Post


    Only downside I see is when working in an environment w/o internet access, and you need the driver.



    Hoping you can pre-install what you need.



    That was exactly the final straw that broke me away from Windows. After years of issues with windows, I ended up with a new laptop with vista, could not print and also could not connect to the Internet. I desperately needed to print and ended up buying a new router just to get hold of the drivers from the net. I swore then to switch.



    So it's makes me wary to see that same scenario looming in this feature.
  • Reply 20 of 88
    tmizerektmizerek Posts: 19member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bluedalmatian View Post


    One of the things that annoys me about an OS X install is it spends ages loading umpteen foreign languages which Im never going to needs yet it still doesnt support British English



    Download monolingual. It will remove unwanted languages and saves space.
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