It appears that HP has decided to abandon several popular printers by not providing Windows 7 printer drivers for them at all. Some devices have been categorized as "Category 6" devices, meaning that HP will not support them under Windows 7. Not today, not tomorrow, not at all.

This might be more acceptable if it only affected decades old printers, but many of these no Windows 7 drivers printers were big sellers just a few years before. For consumers who like buying HP because of how long their printers last, this is a big kick in the teeth. It is like HP is saying, too bad that your printer still works and that you still like it, we can’t be bothered with you because we aren’t making enough money from you as a customer. After all, what good is an HP printer that lasts 8 years if HP won’t provide drivers for at least 8 years after it stops selling it?

Don’t let your outrage go unheard. Email, call, or otherwise contact HP and let them know that this sort of forced obsolescence is unacceptable. If they don’t come through with a solution for you, then vote with your wallet and buy a new printer from someone other than HP. Whatever you do, DON’T USE THEIR UPGRADE PROGRAM! That is just a way to say, "Hey, what you did is OK and I’ll keep buying from you."

More details as they come in…