On November 30th, Microsoft officially launched Windows Vista and Office 2007 for businesses (consumer release slated for January 30th, ‘07). While there’s alot of information in the blogosphere on the ramifications for PCs, Servers, Software, etc.—we have received many questions from customers on what Vista and Office 2007 mean for their printers. In particular, how well do Vista and Office 2007 work with existing HP LaserJets and does an organization have to do anything to make sure there aren’t any interruptions to their printing workflow when they adopt Vista and Office 2007?
What you’ll likely hear from most printer manufacturers is that they are “Windows Vista Ready”. This essentially means that their products are compatible with the enhanced Windows printing subsystem XPS (the XML paper specification). A print driver, as I mentioned in Saving Time with Universal Print Drivers, “is essentially software installed on you PC that is used to convert Windows screen images into a language a single function printer or MFP can understand, and subsequently print what you expect in the format you expected.” Fortunately there’s good news in this regard.
When you move to the new Vista operating system, you’ll need to load new drivers in order for your output to look like you expect it to when you click the “print” button. There’s an easy way to do this for your HP printers using the HP Universal Printer Driver (UPD). As the UPD is single, universal driver that applies to almost all LaserJets, all one has to do is load the free Windows Vista enabled HP UPD, available in early 2007. In the meantime, for the most recent individual Windows Vista print drivers click here.
You might also consider the upside to printing through the Microsoft Office 2007 application. Office 2007 is promising enhanced color rich applications to create more impactful everyday business documents (for more information on creating effective documents for SMB's, see previous post on “Producing Marketing Materials In-house). Of course, I must suggest that you then print these documents on HP Color LaserJets, especially since you can update their drivers so much easier with the UPD!
As you get into Office 2007, Microsoft has a significant number of on-line resources to help you get the most out of the software. This includes “Help by Product” application which steps through many of the most popular software that people might print from. Office 2007 also promises the you can “Create professional documents with ease”--“New graphics capabilities let you spend more time focusing on content by making it easier to create professional-looking, impactful documents, spreadsheets and presentations that are ‘publication ready.’ “
They also have some interesting demos on SmartArt graphics and on improving the look of Excel charts—to show just how they propose to fulfill their promise for more attractive documents using Office 2007. HP worked with the Microsoft Office 2007 engineering teams to deliver an enhanced customer experience by identifying and addressing the common challenges faced when using color in business documents. We believe that more color-rich applications that make it easy to quickly add color to documents will add to your satisfaction with HP Color LaserJets.
In sum, when migrating to Windows Vista, the HP Universal Print Driver (UPD) will make things a lot easier and less time-consuming. You won’t have to load individual drivers for most of your HP business printers. Even more exciting, Office 2007 has improved features for adding color and graphics that will make your documents more persuasive—so you’re more likely to convince associates and customers of the value of your ideas!
Feel free to comment on your printing experiences when you adopt Microsoft Vista and Office 2007 (or what might be keeping you from going down this path) . . .
Happy Printing and Happy Holidays!
