HP and Apple working on automated printer driver delivery in Leopard
In a move that's sure to be welcomed by customers of both parties, HP is reported to be working with Apple to allow users of Mac OS X Leopard to instantly receive the the latest versions of HP's printer drivers over Leopard's built-in Software Update mechanism.
In seeding Leopard build 9A559 to its developer community last week, Apple listed only two known issues with the software, one of which instructed testers with HP printers connected to their system to perform a custom install of the next-gen operating system and de-select the HP printer drivers in the installer.
"The HP printer drivers will be delivered post-install via Software Update," the company told testers.
Although listed in Leopard's developer documentation as a 'known issue', the recommendation to use Apple?s software update process to install the drivers was actually a test scenario, not a driver problem or bug issue, reports MacNN.
"HP has a large market share with Apple customers and is very pleased that Apple has chosen HP drivers and software to test with the latest Leopard developer seed and software update process," a representative for HP told the Mac news publication. "Please note that the HP driver set in the latest Leopard seed and from the software update process is the exact same HP software code and driver bundle, no difference, and should work great with this latest Leopard seed."
In speaking to MacNN, the HP rep went on to say that if there are no existing HP printer queues or HP printers connected to the Mac via USB, then Leopard's version of Software Update will not download or add any HP printer drivers.
In seeding Leopard build 9A559 to its developer community last week, Apple listed only two known issues with the software, one of which instructed testers with HP printers connected to their system to perform a custom install of the next-gen operating system and de-select the HP printer drivers in the installer.
"The HP printer drivers will be delivered post-install via Software Update," the company told testers.
Although listed in Leopard's developer documentation as a 'known issue', the recommendation to use Apple?s software update process to install the drivers was actually a test scenario, not a driver problem or bug issue, reports MacNN.
"HP has a large market share with Apple customers and is very pleased that Apple has chosen HP drivers and software to test with the latest Leopard developer seed and software update process," a representative for HP told the Mac news publication. "Please note that the HP driver set in the latest Leopard seed and from the software update process is the exact same HP software code and driver bundle, no difference, and should work great with this latest Leopard seed."
In speaking to MacNN, the HP rep went on to say that if there are no existing HP printer queues or HP printers connected to the Mac via USB, then Leopard's version of Software Update will not download or add any HP printer drivers.
Comments
As an Apple Developer, I've said this to hundreds of friends over the years who've asked about a printer choice: HP? Great hardware, crappy software. No, really. CRAPPY software. Perhaps this new mechanism will resolve that problem.
You nailed it!
The last time I had a printer from HP the "driver" software filled 2 CDs and I ended up with more than a gigabyte of crap on my system. Dozens and dozens of applications, background processes, and who knows what else, that were confusing and difficult to use, took up memory, slowed down the computer, and even made my system as a whole unstable. It doesn't matter whether this is under Mac OS 9, Windows or Mac OS X, it's the same on each - tons of irrelevant and unnecessary "stuff".
It's a printer, all I want to do is print. Why they can't provide a single, simple driver that does just that and dispense with all the other crap I don't know, but either way, I swore never to buy another HP printer from that point on.
I agree with what you said but add a cleaning utility and you have a winner.
Sure to be welcomed? Yeah, right.
The last time I had a printer from HP the "driver" software filled 2 CDs and I ended up with more than a gigabyte of crap on my system. Dozens and dozens of applications, background processes, and who knows what else, that were confusing and difficult to use, took up memory, slowed down the computer, and even made my system as a whole unstable. It doesn't matter whether this is under Mac OS 9, Windows or Mac OS X, it's the same on each - tons of irrelevant and unnecessary "stuff".
It's a printer, all I want to do is print. Why they can't provide a single, simple driver that does just that and dispense with all the other crap I don't know, but either way, I swore never to buy another HP printer from that point on.
I bought a HP C5180 with my iPhone rebate, and I just double checked what it installed:
2 dock items (device manager, photosmart studio) which are applications in the 50mb HP folder located in Applications
1 item in Utilities (hp printer selector)
1 process: hp event handler
That's really not that bad. Perhaps they've been working with Apple a little more closely lately!
update: AppZapper showed me 3 plist items in Library/Preferences.
/Adrian
Actually, I don't get what you are whining about... the HP printer I had worked just excellent over the LAN. Granted, scanning possibilities were limited without HP software but printing worked excellent - even better than the Windows system that required the drivers to identify the printer properly.
/Adrian
I have to add that I am using this printer plugged into my home network and shared between my mac and my wife's window's vista computer.
installing for the mac was a breeze, literally. less than 10 minutes, just worked. ooh, look, magic printer (scanner / copier)!
installing for windows vista was a PITA. Almost an hour to get it to work with the networked printer and two installs of the drivers.
As an Apple Developer, I've said this to hundreds of friends over the years who've asked about a printer choice: HP? Great hardware, crappy software. No, really. CRAPPY software. Perhaps this new mechanism will resolve that problem.
Boo-yaaaaaaah! HP seems totally clueless about integrating with Apple... hope this works out. FFS!
Boo-yaaaaaaah! HP seems totally clueless about integrating with Apple... hope this works out. FFS!
Yep. I is about time HP they did this.
Horrible software indeed! I once had to disassemble their VISE installer just to get to the actual scanner driver and skip the HP branded junk (like iPhoto replacements and whatnot). That also makes their downloads HUGE which sucks if you have a slow connection and need to get the work done... As for the printers, you can't go wrong with Postscript. More and more cheaper printers support it and it's a good thing.
Could you list a few names and model numbers, I'd like to investigate some inexpensive PS printers. Thanks!
For real Adobe Postscript I tend to go with Xerox, though Ricoh has some affordable options as well.
I too am part of the chorus of ex-HP customers. Their overall quality really dropped when they abandoned Adobe Postscript, and their multifunction printers in particular are an ongoing nightmare of bad driver software (see the notorious "HP Communications" process as Exhibit A).
One thing that is cool in 10.5 is that Apple did away with Printer Setup Utility. You now set is up in System Preferences and when you print someone, the printer you chose simply pops up in the Dock to show you the document queue. Clean and simple. Exactly the way it should be. I hope HP and other printer companies aren't pushing their own software. If they want to add features, they should work with Apple to add it in the existing printer/scanner software Apple has developed.
I'd stay away from the consumer product lines, but their small office product line seems to be pretty good.
If you want to investigate some inexpensive PS (clone) printers, I'd highly recommend Brother. Their network models are generally pretty nice -- $250-300 should buy you a nice little workhorse.
For real Adobe Postscript I tend to go with Xerox, though Ricoh has some affordable options as well.
I too am part of the chorus of ex-HP customers. Their overall quality really dropped when they abandoned Adobe Postscript, and their multifunction printers in particular are an ongoing nightmare of bad driver software (see the notorious "HP Communications" process as Exhibit A).
The Brother MFC line should be looked on with suspicion though. They don't provide much toner with the cartridge for my 7820, and the Mac fax and scanning software is not very good. Thankfully, I don't need to use it with my Mac.
I was under the ongoing impression that Brother products were shoddily made, and tend to break down quickly. No longer true?
Every manufacturer has detractors, sometimes vehement and on a mission to make them pay for a perceived injustice or other issue. Most of this stuff nowadays have similar innards, sometimes produced in the same factory. Over the years I have learned to pretty much ignore so-called user reviews and consider them to be unreliable at best, almost always filled with personal bias and uniformed claims. Same goes for individual customer service reports. Somebody always has an axe to grind or a point to make.
Stick with reviews by outfits like consumer reports, c|net, etc. And take them with a grain of skepticism too. Some are paid by manufacturers to give glowing reviews.
In the end trust no one but yourself. Do your homework. Try things out if possible.
HP printer software contains spyware that reports your printer usage back home, all whilst leaking both real and virtual memory till it brings your computer to its knees.
Its scanner software is also a model of how NOT to produce anything productive.