Minolta-QMS has announced its support for the Common Unix Printing System (CUPS), as well as the PDQ printing system in its current colour and monochrome network printers. Support for CUPS and PDQ widens the compatibility for Minolta-QMS printers to include all major versions of the popular Unix and Linux operating systems.
Minolta-QMS laser printer division product manager, Marc Pillay, says that while Minolta-QMS laser printers have always supported Unix operating systems, the introduction of new software solutions allows this support to be extended to include Linux printing systems as well. "Customers using Unix or Linux can now easily enjoy the efficiency of the Crown architecture built into our printers," he says.
Both the Common Unix Printing System and PDQ allow Minolta-QMS to enable device-specific features, such as paper input trays or duplex printing options, by providing PostScript Printer Description (PPD) files to the CUPS or PDQ environments. Customers who use Unix or Linux applications can use either CUPS or PDQ to easily select these features through a familiar, Web-based graphical user interface.
According to Pillay, both CUPS and PDQ were designed to alleviate printing problems encountered by users of Unix and Linux. "In these operating systems, generic printing is easy, but accessing device-specific features such as multiple paper input trays or addressable output bins is more difficult. The common printing methods now supported by Minolta-QMS printers break down barriers to printing by providing access to these device-specific features through graphical user interfaces or more conventional command line entries," he says.
CUPS uses IPP 1.1 to provide a modern printing system for Unix that can be extended to support new printers, devices, and protocols while providing compatibility with existing Unix applications.
PDQ differs from CUPS in its use of the LPD protocol within TCP/IP. LPR/LPD is a familiar, but uncertain method of printing within Unix. Both CUPS and PDQ offer the Unix and Linux user graphical interfaces as alternatives to the arcane command line prompt commands associated with printing in these systems. MINOLTA-QMS printer customers can now choose the printing environment they prefer when using either Unix or Linux.
Support for CUPS and PDQ is in the form of customised PostScript Printer Description (PPD) and driver files included on the software utilities CD-ROMs that ship with Minolta-QMS printers.
Share
Editorial contacts