Every once in awhile, I see a thread started in the forums on using a WHS as a print server. As my printer has an Ethernet port, I never really paid much attention to these threads as a result.
That all may change due to a company called ThinPrint. They claim to have a product that will require drivers to be installed only on the printer server, eliminating the need to install them individually on each PC. Which is actually a nice idea, even in the home.
What follows is the press release from ThinPrint, and it contains a link to a beta version of the software. I may have to put this on my list of things to check out when I find time. This may work just fine for basic printing, but I wonder how well it work with AIO printers.
Any brave souls out there willing to check this one out?
New solution signals the end of printer drivers on desktop PCs/ThinPrint .print V-Layer Basic means printer drivers only need to be installed on the print server, eliminating drivers on desktop PCs.
(Berlin/Hannover, March 2010) ThinPrint, the leader in print solutions in distributed networks, will introduce the beta version of its latest solution, .print V-Layer Basic at CeBIT in hall 3, stand A24. With the newest ThinPrint product, printer driver management in companies with print servers will be significantly simplified. Printer drivers need only be installed once on the print server, eliminating the need to install them individually on each PC.
Printing issues are something that system administrators try to avoid. One of the reasons behind this is that in order to enable users access to the correct printer close to their work location, the relevant drivers had to be installed on each individual PC. ThinPrint’s .print V-Layer Basic solution, which is now available as a beta version, relieves this costly and time-consuming process. The core of the new print solution is ThinPrint’s V-Layer technology. With one click, the original printer drivers on the print server are transformed into V-Layer drivers. Installation or administration on the desktops is eliminated. The original printer drivers need to be installed only once on the print server. A further benefit for employees is that a standardized print dialog (15 languages are supported) is available for each printer.
ThinPrint has taken customer feedback into consideration when designing .print V-Layer Basic. A solution that simplified printer management in traditional networks and could be located on the print server was required. Other technological innovations such as print data compression, connection oriented bandwidth control or SSL encryption that .print Server Engine offers were secondary wishes.
“With .print V-Layer Basic, an efficient and inexpensive print solution has been developed that has an impressive outcome. The installation of printer drivers on PCs which takes up admin’s time and nerves now belongs to the past,” Charlotte Künzell, member of ThinPrint’s Board of Directors. “And whoever later needs further features for print optimization can simply upgrade to the .print Server Engine.”
A license costs 18 Euro per desktop PC, therefore .print V-Layer Basic would allow a company with 50 desktop computers to only make an investment of 900 Euro for the centralization and simplification of its entire print process.
A free demo of the beta version can be downloaded at www.thinprint.com/vlayerbasic.
.print V-Layer Basic will be available by the end of the first quarter this year.
This press release is available at www.thinprint.com/press, press photos at: www.thinprint.com/pressphotos.
ThinPrint AG
ThinPrint specializes in mobile enterprise solutions and printing in distributed network architectures. The company’s success is based on its print management solution, ThinPrint .print, which is successfully employed in companies of all sizes in all sectors around the globe. More than 500 major distributors and resellers in over 80 countries sell products made by ThinPrint AG. Thanks to numerous partnerships, client components using patent-pending .print technology have been integrated into the terminals, print boxes, PDAs and mobile phones of several leading hardware producers. Strategic partnerships with ThinPrint play a special role in this endeavor, including BlackBerry (RIM), Bluetooth SIG, Citrix Systems, Inc., Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Lexmark International, Inc., Microsoft, Nokia, Orange, Palm, Inc., Sun Microsystems Inc., Symbian Ltd. And VMware, Inc.
