Software industry

Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft Announce Full Plug and Play Support for HP LaserJet Printers

Strategic Insights

Mar 12, 1995 — 1 min read

HP and Microsoft have announced full Plug and Play support for the entire HP LaserJet printer line, enabling users to install an HP LaserJet printer simply by plugging it into a PC's parallel port. This eliminates the multistep process of loading a printer-driver disk, running an installation program, configuring the printer driver, and connecting it to a logical port. With Plug and Play, users can enjoy automatic installation and driver configuration, reducing printer-support calls and saving time.

Key Takeaways:

HP and Microsoft have co-developed the IEEE 1284 bidirectional parallel port standard, which enables Plug and Play installation and remote-printer-status functionality within Windows 95.
HP's LaserJet printers have been shipping with HP Bi-Tronics parallel ports, a superset of the IEEE 1284 standard, since the introduction of the LaserJet 4 printer in 1992.
Windows 95 can recognize a Plug and Play printer either at system startup or when a user proactively requests a printer detection, and automatically install and configure the driver.
HP and Microsoft have established a strong relationship to supply easy desktop and network printing solutions to users, with the Windows 95 operating system including all current HP LaserJet printer drivers.
HP has sold over 30 million printers worldwide since 1984, and had revenue of $25 billion in its 1994 fiscal year.

Statistics:

30 million: number of printers sold by HP worldwide since 1984.
$25 billion: revenue generated by HP in its 1994 fiscal year.
1994: year in which HP had revenue of $25 billion.
1984: year in which HP began selling printers.
1992: year in which HP introduced the LaserJet 4 printer.
1995: month (March) and day (20-22) of the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.
1995: month (August) in which Microsoft Windows 95 is scheduled to ship.

Sources:

"HP and Microsoft: 10 Years Of Printing Innovation" backgrounder
Microsoft Corp.
Hewlett-Packard Co.

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