Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Timothy J Lytle

Tali Roth

Mark A Lawrence

Andrew Richard Simonds

Robert Orleth

Mikael P Horal

Albert Leon Ting

Emil G Antonov

Various distributed client side printing methods and systems are described. In at least some embodiments, printer control and the job handling functions are bifurcated or separated by allowing jobs, drivers, settings and the like to be controlled by the print server or some other entity, while allowing clients to communicate jobs directly to a printer. The various embodiments can improve server performance by performing rendering and maintaining rendered data on the client side, and not communicating the rendered data to the server, while at the same time, allowing print servers to control the printer.

Distributed client side printing methods and systems

A network peripheral device driver maintenance framework and corresponding method is disclosed. The framework includes a driver version identification level comprising a set of driver version descriptions. Each driver version comprises a set of component versions that make upon each particular driver version. A driver component level, under the driver version identification level, comprises uniquely identified component versions (containers) comprising sets of driver files that make up the component versions identified by the driver versions. A method for maintaining multiple simultaneously active networked peripheral device drivers is disclosed. The method includes storing a new driver on the machine in a manner including the following steps performed by a machine. Initially, the machine establishes, within a directory structure, a container for storing a set of driver files constituting a version of a driver component. A unique identifier name is assigned to the new container. A set of driver files associated with the component version is inserted within the container.

Peripheral device driver maintenance scheme for networked peripheral device clients

Growing community of inventors

Sammamish, WA, United States of America

Timothy J Lytle