Thursday, January 18, 2007
Vista and Photo Printing: Things Have Improved
Posted by Jason Dunn in "THOUGHT" @ 07:00 AM
I've never liked the printing wizard in Windows XP much, so I didn't have a lot of experience in using it - I've always used ACDSee for printing. In my continuing tests with Vista I thought I'd see if they had improved the printing tool - I wasn't holding out much hope, because Microsoft's attitude has traditionally been "If you want anything really nice, get it from a third party developer". Much to my surprise, the experience of connecting a printer, and making your first prints from it, has been radically enhanced under Vista. For Christmas my wife Ashley gave me a small HP Photosmart 325 printer - the kind that prints 4x6 photos from a PC or directly from a memory card. So now I have one really big printer, and one really little printer. Actually, since I have a Canon MP780 for copying/faxing/scanning, and an HP 2600n for day to day printing (man that's one impressive piece of hardware for the money), I guess I run the gamut in terms of printer size. I like being able to create the things I need in my office, rather than having to rely on outside services.
Under Vista, connecting the Photosmart printer was amazingly simple: I plugged in the USB cable, Vista recognized the device, and about 30 seconds later it had completely installed the drivers and was ready to print. Quite honestly, I was stunned: I thought for sure there would be some sort of dialogue box I'd have to click past, or some wizard I'd have to go through, even if Vista had the drivers - which I was convinced it would not. The entire experience was flawless and I was deeply impressed.
Compare that to installing the same printer under XP: I connected it, and it recognized the name of the printer. I was then presented with the typical Install New Hardware wizard, and asked for permission to search Windows Update for drivers. I said yes, even though I've never seen Windows Update assist in finding drivers for anything. The next screen asked for an install CD, which is confusing given that the first step said it would try to go and find drivers. I left it on automatic, clicked next, and over the next four minutes it tried to install the printer. Much to my surprise, it said it was successful - but after clicking Next I was presented with a new pop-up window for the Found New Hardware Wizard. I clicked through the steps again, and this time it finished out with the Cannot Install This Hardware error. But in typical XP fashion, as long as the hardware is connected, the operating system will continue to try and install it.
So that was installing the printer. How different is Vista from XP when it comes to printing? Quite different as it turns out.
Figure 1: The new Vista Printing window.
With Vista, I right-clicked on the photo I wanted to print, and selected Print from the menu. Alternatively, you can use the new Gallery program to find the images you want and click print. A very simple printing window came up. Rather than having a multi-step wizard, all of the important choices have been condensed down into a single window that allows you to select the printer you want to use, the size and type of print, the resolution, the paper type, the number of prints, and does a zoom and crop to fit the photo to the page. What impressed me most was that every single option was set correctly the first time this window popped up - I literally only had to click print and I was finished. Since this printer only prints one size of picture, it was easy for Vista to get the defaults right, but I experimented with other printers and it was just as easy. Microsoft really did a great job with this tool. By comparison, the process under Windows XP is a five-screen wizard that doesn't feel nearly as fast or easy.
Vista also supports something that XP did not: offline print queuing. I had the HP Photosmart printer disconnected from my Vista machine, and I tried the printing wizard again. When I saw that it offered me the ability to print to the now-disconnected printer, I assumed it was a bug in the software. I clicked print anyway, and it completed and shut down the print window like it normally would. Playing a hunch, I re-connected the HP Photosmart printer - and within 5 seconds it started to print, without prompting me at all. Now that's impressive software design - a laptop owner could queue up prints on the go, then connect when he returns to the office and get all his prints.
Jason Dunn owns and operates Thoughts Media Inc., a company dedicated to creating the best in online communities. He enjoys mobile devices, digital media content creation/editing, and pretty much all technology. He lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with his lovely wife, and his sometimes obedient dog. He likes buying printers.
Under Vista, connecting the Photosmart printer was amazingly simple: I plugged in the USB cable, Vista recognized the device, and about 30 seconds later it had completely installed the drivers and was ready to print. Quite honestly, I was stunned: I thought for sure there would be some sort of dialogue box I'd have to click past, or some wizard I'd have to go through, even if Vista had the drivers - which I was convinced it would not. The entire experience was flawless and I was deeply impressed.
Compare that to installing the same printer under XP: I connected it, and it recognized the name of the printer. I was then presented with the typical Install New Hardware wizard, and asked for permission to search Windows Update for drivers. I said yes, even though I've never seen Windows Update assist in finding drivers for anything. The next screen asked for an install CD, which is confusing given that the first step said it would try to go and find drivers. I left it on automatic, clicked next, and over the next four minutes it tried to install the printer. Much to my surprise, it said it was successful - but after clicking Next I was presented with a new pop-up window for the Found New Hardware Wizard. I clicked through the steps again, and this time it finished out with the Cannot Install This Hardware error. But in typical XP fashion, as long as the hardware is connected, the operating system will continue to try and install it.
So that was installing the printer. How different is Vista from XP when it comes to printing? Quite different as it turns out.
Figure 1: The new Vista Printing window.
With Vista, I right-clicked on the photo I wanted to print, and selected Print from the menu. Alternatively, you can use the new Gallery program to find the images you want and click print. A very simple printing window came up. Rather than having a multi-step wizard, all of the important choices have been condensed down into a single window that allows you to select the printer you want to use, the size and type of print, the resolution, the paper type, the number of prints, and does a zoom and crop to fit the photo to the page. What impressed me most was that every single option was set correctly the first time this window popped up - I literally only had to click print and I was finished. Since this printer only prints one size of picture, it was easy for Vista to get the defaults right, but I experimented with other printers and it was just as easy. Microsoft really did a great job with this tool. By comparison, the process under Windows XP is a five-screen wizard that doesn't feel nearly as fast or easy.
Vista also supports something that XP did not: offline print queuing. I had the HP Photosmart printer disconnected from my Vista machine, and I tried the printing wizard again. When I saw that it offered me the ability to print to the now-disconnected printer, I assumed it was a bug in the software. I clicked print anyway, and it completed and shut down the print window like it normally would. Playing a hunch, I re-connected the HP Photosmart printer - and within 5 seconds it started to print, without prompting me at all. Now that's impressive software design - a laptop owner could queue up prints on the go, then connect when he returns to the office and get all his prints.
Jason Dunn owns and operates Thoughts Media Inc., a company dedicated to creating the best in online communities. He enjoys mobile devices, digital media content creation/editing, and pretty much all technology. He lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with his lovely wife, and his sometimes obedient dog. He likes buying printers.
