Do the new printers still work in Windows 3.11?

[Coki]

I have a computer that still uses Windows 3.11. It has some importand data and I dont want to upgrade it. It runs fine for the job it does.

I need to replace the printer.

I was thinking of getting Canon S450?

Does anyone know if today's printers will work with old Windows 3.11? Or do they need special drivers. Can I just set up the printer as generic?

Thanks.

 

[pm]

Watch out for "Windows" printers. These beasts - which seem to be the low-end models from HP whenever I encounter them - are like Winmodems in that they offload some of the computation to the CPU. They require special drivers to run. They can be ridiculously slow on not-too-old CPUs. My father had a Winprinter from HP and was using it on his 486 laptop. It would take several hours to print even a black and white text page. So, watch out for this because not only will it be slow, but you probably won't have a 16-bit driver for it.

If the printer works in DOS and Linux, then it will work fine as a Vanilla printer under Win3.11. Otherwise check the manufacturer for Win3.1 drivers.

 

[OdiN]

Some printers that you can get today (mostly the dot matrix ones) can be used in Win 3.11 because generic/post script drivers can work on them pretty easily. For any of the newer stuff, check the webpage and see if they have downloadable drivers for Windows 3.11, or mention support for that particular product. If it doesn't mention Windows 3.11 on their page or on the box or in the driver downloads at all...most likely it won't work, but generic drivers could possibly work.

 

[JackMDS]

If you get a printer that needs windows 95 and above to work, it will not work with Win3.11. Win 3.11 prints via DOS, the newer printer cannot. However not all model are Win only, so research well.