It is frankly embarrassing that, after years of promoting Universal Print as the future of cloud-based printing, Microsoft still hasn't addressed basic functionality like custom paper sizes.
I'm using a supported Brother label printer with Universal Print. The system detects it, knows it's a label printer, even offers “Media Type: Label”—yet I am locked into Letter and A4 with no option to set a custom layout. All I want to do is print a 3"x1" label, something that has been a standard use case for decades. Instead, I’m told to wait for future updates, or worse, rely on outdated x86 infrastructure that Universal Print was supposed to eliminate.
This isn’t a bleeding-edge feature request. It’s a fundamental print task, and the fact that Microsoft’s own “Universal” print driver can’t handle it, despite recognizing the printer, is counterproductive. You’re rolling out ARM64 Surface devices and championing them for enterprise—yet the core printing experience is neutered out of the box.
If third-party vendors aren’t prioritizing ARM64 or Universal Print, then Microsoft needs to step up and bridge that gap. And let’s be clear—Apple figured this out when transitioning to Apple Silicon. They built Rosetta 2, invested in compatibility layers, and made sure everyday things like printer drivers just worked. There’s no excuse for Microsoft not to deliver a similar application layer or universal driver solution to make this possible before rolling out Windows on Arm64. “Wait and hope the vendors catch up” is not a strategy. It’s an abdication.
Until then, Universal Print feels like another half-baked experiment—just one more entry in the corporate graveyard next to Zune and Windows Phone and any other groundbreaking technology that Microsoft comes up with (Remember Bob!).
Do better.
Sorry needed to vent as I'm completely stuck with thousands of dollars tied up in Arm64 Surfaces collecting dust that are worthless cause I can't get drivers from any vendor for Label Printers, yet I pay for Universal Printing with our E3/5 licenses and all I can do with print happy little trees (doing my Bon Ross impression here) in Letter or A4 ONLY
2 Comments
NishantLakhanpalMicrosoft
The Windows Universal Driver supports label printing based on the capabilities advertised by the printer. Please work with our support team so we can help determine where the media size may be getting dropped.
To create a support ticket, please refer to the following documentation:
Microsoft Azure Support Ticket | Microsoft Azurewe would like to help you out here with ezeep cloud printing solution by ThinPrint. Be sure to check us out
www.ezeep.com
