[londons_explore]

Can we just remove all printing functionality from the OS?

Printers are mostly networked in today's world. And the OS usually isn't involved when an application wants to talk to another device on the network beyond TCP connections etc.

Just get the application to (using a library), connect directly to the printer, submit its job, show status, and disconnect when done.

[kevincox]

The last thing I want is every application to have a different interface to connect, configure and select printers. I think having it be a user-space library is a great idea but I would like that library to be provided by the OS. That way I can use a common interface for connecting and configuring defaults for printers that are then available in all apps. Then the app can use that library to fire jobs to the printer. (Maybe with some provided common UI component)

[Alpha3031]

Like CUPS or something?

[cendyne]

CUPS subsystem for Windows™

[pkaye]

It would be Windows™ subsystem for CUPS.

[Dalewyn]

>Printers are mostly networked in today's world.

I never connect printers directly to the network because their firmware/OS are all flaming pieces of garbage with terrible UIs and conventions. In my house, all network printers are connected to the home server (running Windows Server) and it's the home server that actually deals with presenting the printers to the network.

The time and nerves I've saved by having an actual, proper operating system handle the networking is immeasurable.

[krupan]

While I completely agree with you, cheap printers do a lot of heavy lifting in the printer driver, so we'd have to give up on $100 inkjets. Which we a really should do, but, well, good luck with that.

[atq2119]

Nowadays, cheap printers have to work with Android, which means they have to speak IPP. At least for basic printing, crappy drivers have been a thing of the past for a while now.