And in the meantime, HP is still shipping product that won't work well with WinXP...
Just bought my mom a new machine with XP loaded and an Officejet K80 at the same time. The K80 is a current product and is advertised as XP compatible. I was quite surprised when I tried to do the installation and found that the HP software would not install on XP. HP's web site tells you instead to just use Microsoft drivers, oh and by the way, so sorry, those drivers don't cover the full functionality that this model is supposed to have. Oops, we'll get back to you...
Their own website tells the story:
hp.com
Document summary
The following is a summary of the contents of this document. More detailed information is available on all these topics within this document.
- This document covers Windows XP compatibility for the HP Officejet G, K, V and PSC 700 series all-in-one products. These products were released before Windows XP and did not ship with Windows XP drivers. [A nice little half-truth there. Yes, these products have been around since before the XP release. But they are not "old" products, they are current products that are being sold in stores TODAY, being bundled with XP machines TODAY and being advertised as XP-compatible TODAY. -- mg]
- When upgrading to Windows XP, there are settings to check or change as well as other actions that should be taken.
- The all-in-one products listed in this document can be used immediately with Windows XP because HP has worked with Microsoft to have printing and scanning drivers built into Windows XP. When connected directly to a computer (not networked), the drivers are installed by Windows plug and play. Some functionality is also possible when connected using a Jetdirect print server.
- HP will be providing fully functional drivers for these products, but that software is currently being developed and tested and is not yet available.
- The drivers built into Windows XP provide much of the previous functionality of the all-in-one when combined with other Windows XP features. Some features are not available with the built in drivers but will be with the HP released drivers when they are available.
- No third-party optical character recognition (OCR) or manager software are included with the drivers built into Windows XP, but will be available when HP releases the Windows XP drivers on CDROM.
Functions not available
The following functions that were previously available will not be available until the full software solution is released:
- Integrated optical character recognition (OCR) scanning will not be available. TWAIN scanning to an OCR program, purchased separately, will function correctly.
- Two-sided printing.
- Poster printing.
- Direct scanning using HP software.
- PC-assisted copy.
- The SCAN, SCAN TO, and/or START SCAN buttons found on some models of these product families will not function.
- Models with an automatic document feeder (ADF) will not be able to scan using the ADF.
- The HP Director software will not be available. [This is HUGE. You set up the device and change its settings with this software. Not having it means using a phone keypad and clunky menus to set up or change any of the features. -- mg]
- PC fax sending, using a fax print driver.
- Some functions when connected over a network using an HP Jetdirect print server for network ready models. HP Officejet G series models will print and scan but the HP Officejet K80 will only be able to print.
Worth noting that Canon has this out and ready for their current generation of multifunction printers.
Sadly, this is typical. It's typical of a company that no longer cares about its customers. That's why I left. Two years of making excuses for the lack of real customer support left me bitter and embarrassed to have anything to do with this company.
I used to be an employee. I'm not anymore. I won't work for a company that lies to it's employees.
I used to be a customer. I'm not anymore. I won't buy stuff from a company that delivers a sub-par product then lies about why it "has to be that way."
I used to be a fan. I'm not anymore. There's nothing left that's worth cheering for.
mg |
