Over the last few months Microsoft has made announcements that caught our attention. The goal of this blog is to discuss the announcement and how it relates to Tricerat's software and our customers.
So what is Microsoft actually doing? Microsoft is planning on transitioning its printing infrastructure away from traditional drivers on endpoints and moving towards a driverless future, relying on the IPP protocol and their MPP (Modern Print Platform) to do the work of driverless printing[1][2][3]. This is a pretty significant change for Microsoft's print architecture, so it sounds like it could really impact a lot of environments if caught unprepared. Thankfully the reality is a bit less stressful and immediate.
The first question to ask is "When?" When is this happening, is it just 1 "rip the band-aid off" mega update? Is it a series of smaller releases?
Thankfully it's the latter. On January 15th of 2026 Microsoft stopped the ability for print driver manufacturers to submit their new drivers to Windows Update[1][7][8]. This is just one of the first steps they are taking to slowly transition their customer base towards this "MPP" (Modern Print Platform).
The good thing here is that folks won't be left without a paddle, as existing printer models will continue to get updates, and there will be plenty of exceptions for label printers, and other specialized print devices[1][9][10].
After a certain amount of time, the next step in this transition will occur. On July 1st 2026, Microsoft will default printer install to their IPP Class driver when installing printers, and Microsoft's new WPP (Windows Protected Print) setting that blocks traditional driver installs is optional and can be disabled by IT[1][7][8]. The good news here is that manual driver installation still works, as well as other methods of deploying native drivers. Even better news for Tricerat customers, nothing changes for you. You've already moved away from legacy native driver management into a world of Fortified Print Servers, and you don't have drivers on your endpoints anyway[4].
The last step in this transition will happen on July 1st 2027 when all driver updates will end, and IT teams will not be able to get any drivers from windows update anymore[1][7][8].
I think the next great question to answer is, "what's the impact of this on my organization?" And as with anything in life the real answer here is "it depends". I think a step back to analyze this is necessary to understand the real impact here.
From all this information that Microsoft is providing, it's clear that this architecture change is specifically impacting drivers on windows update[1][7][8]. From our experience here at Tricerat, our customers very rarely deploy drivers through windows update, as a lot of their environments are very sensitive to production outages, so any print driver deployment gets tested first, and then deployed through ScrewDrivers' Direct Print functionality, no windows update is needed, no native deployment tools needed[4].
And as for our Print Server customers, this just further re-enforces why they chose Tricerat to begin with: "to simplify print driver management on the endpoints without sacrificing security on those endpoints"[4]. ScrewDrivers offers a centralized management interface for all the mission critical print servers within the organization, and on top of that we eliminate the need for any native drivers on the endpoint with our state of the art ScrewDrivers virtual driver[4].
So while IT teams still will have to test and deploy drivers to their various print servers, they will not need to worry about how this architecture change affects their endpoints, since they are already at a point where they aren't using native drivers anyway[4]. And while you deploy the ScrewDrivers driver to your endpoints, the ScrewDrivers platform is securing your print server at the same time, further reducing the impact of legacy drivers by isolating print jobs, encrypting print job data, and ensuring that only the correct user gets their correct printer[4].
A few years back, our CTO Andrew Parlette walked through this exact Microsoft announcement and what it really means for third‑party printer drivers, timelines, and real‑world impact. If you prefer to hear it straight from him, you can watch that 10‑minute breakdown here:
Talking Tech with Andrew Parlette: Windows Support for 3rd Party Printer Drivers
In the video, Andrew covers how Microsoft’s end‑of‑servicing plan for third‑party drivers actually works, why it doesn’t “kill” legacy V3/V4 drivers overnight, and where enterprise environments—especially VDI and specialized devices like label printers—need to pay closer attention.
Still concerned about WPP and how it will affect your organization? Come chat with one of our experts about your environment and your requirements and we'll make sure you're ready for these changes from Microsoft.
References
[1] Microsoft. (2025). End of servicing plan for third-party printer drivers on Windows. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/print/end-of-servicing-plan-for-third-party-printer-drivers-on-window
[2] Microsoft. (2023, December 12). A new, modern, and secure print experience from Windows. Microsoft Security Blog. https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/microsoft-security-blog/a-new-modern-and-secure-print-experience-from-windows/4002645
[3] Microsoft. (2025). Modern Print Platform and Windows Protected Print Mode. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/modern-print/modern-print-platform
[4] Tricerat. (2024). Tricerat Messaging Framework: Hybrid Print Architecture. Internal document.
[5] Just·Tech. (2025). Windows Print Transition Overview. https://justtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Windows-Print-Transition-v0.3.pdf
[6] Lexmark Support. (2025, December 11). Microsoft Windows protected print mode. https://support.lexmark.com/en_us/drivers-downloads/microsoft-windows-protected-print-mode.html
[7] Printerbase. (2025, December 14). Windows Protected Print: What it is and how to prepare for 2027. https://www.printerbase.co.uk/news/windows-protected-print-what-it-is-and-how-to-prepare/
[8] UBEO. (2025, April 28). Microsoft WPP (Windows Protected Print) and the end of third-party print drivers. https://www.ubeo.com/blog/prepare-for-microsoft-wpp-and-end-of-third-party-print-drivers
[9] Windows Forum. (2026, February 9). Microsoft ends legacy printer drivers: Plan your 2026–2027 migration. https://windowsforum.com/threads/microsoft-ends-legacy-printer-drivers-plan-your-2026-2027-migration.400717/
[10] SEAM Services. (2026, February 25). Microsoft clarifies Windows 11 printer driver policy. https://seamservices.com/blog/microsoft-legacy-printer-driver-phaseout-what-does-this-mean/