LRS Ships Driverless Printing for SAP, Closing the Windows Protected Print Gap

LRS has shipped the first phase of LRS Driverless Printing updates to VPSX and Personal Print Manager (PPM) that print directly to Mopria-compliant devices. The update arrives as Microsoft’s phase-out of third-party Windows print drivers takes hold. Introduced in April, the release provides working driverless printing for SAP environments, currently limited to Mopria-compliant devices.

Microsoft no longer publishes new third-party printer drivers to Windows Update by default, and the Microsoft Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) class driver is becoming the preferred path. Recent SAPinsider blogs framed Windows Protected Print as a silent threat to SAP operations and explored consequences beyond hardware. We now trace the answer from shipped capability to planned support for the specialized printers that SAP operations still require.

Microsoft Phases Third-Party Drivers Out of Windows

Microsoft’s security team outlined the modern, driverless direction in December 2023, building the print experience on IPP standards and Mopria-certified devices. Windows Protected Print (WPP) mode arrived with Windows 11 24H2, and Microsoft’s end-of-servicing plan laid out a dated timeline; new third-party print drivers stopped shipping through Windows Update in January 2026, the Microsoft IPP class driver took precedence over third-party drivers as of July 1, 2026, and third-party driver servicing narrows to critical security fixes through mid-2027.

However, existing drivers for WPP have not stopped working yet. LRS notes that organizations can leave protected print mode off and continue printing through vendor drivers for now, but doing so shifts the maintenance burden onto IT teams who must source and apply driver updates manually as Windows Update coverage recedes.

That means SAP organizations face direct exposure as enabling the mode can erase vendor-driver queues used for SAP GUI front-end printing and for spool output routed through Windows print servers. The risk extends from device compatibility to application output.

WPP Leaves SAP Label Printers Behind

The Mopria certification model has coverage gaps that affect SAP warehouses. LRS identifies a consequential gap: thermal and barcode label printers common across industries appear on no Mopria compliance list. These devices produce shipping labels, bin tags, and production identifiers from SAP output.

For example, a warehouse shipping label is delivered to a Windows queue backed by a vendor driver. Enabling protected print removes that queue, interrupting output at the point of work.

These constraints define the requirement: driverless output must reach Mopria-compliant office printers and installed non-Mopria hardware without forcing fleet replacement or rebuilding established output workflows.

VPSX Brings Driverless Printing to SAP Environments

The shipped capability starts with direct printing and no vendor driver. LRS Driverless Printing lets administrators define Mopria-compliant devices and print through Personal Print Manager (PPM) or VPSX/DirectPrint. Personal Print Manager (PPM) already supports this driverless model on macOS and systems using the Common Unix Printing System (CUPS).

The roadmap then moves through the spool. LRS plans to route driverless output through the VPSX spool, the central queue for server-managed printing, with VPSX interacting with Mopria-compliant devices directly or through the server. Server-based routing matters in SAP landscapes because application output does not always originate on a user’s workstation. Moving the driverless path into the VPSX spool brings centrally managed jobs into the same architecture as direct desktop printing.

LRS plans a later phase that will extend that path to the printer types it drives today, including non-Mopria thermal and barcode devices. LRS also plans to update its LRS Cloud Print mechanisms with the same driverless functionality, and the software runs wherever an organization needs it: on-premises, in a private cloud, in the LRS SaaS environment, or through LRS managed services.

That progression gives SAP teams a phased migration path without immediate device replacement. It aligns output with the driverless architecture Microsoft adopted in response to spooler-era attacks, while preserving existing printer investments.

LRS is explicit about the choice organizations now face. Deferring protected print and manually patching vendor drivers keeps things running, but LRS characterizes that approach as risky and short-sighted. Its recommendation is to embrace the driverless model and plan the transition deliberately rather than wait for driver failures to force the issue.

What This Means for SAPinsiders

• Mopria compliance is now a question in the fleet inventory. With Windows Protected Print limited to Mopria-certified devices, SAP ERP program managers should catalog device certification status across the printer estate and isolate non-Mopria dependencies, particularly thermal and barcode label printers, before enabling the mode broadly.
• The enterprise spool becomes the bridge for specialized output. Enterprise architects can use VPSX’s planned spool integration to route warehouse and shop-floor output through server-managed queues rather than workstation drivers, keeping non-Mopria devices productive while the desktop moves driverless.
• Driver deprecation dates should be treated as project deadlines. With the IPP class driver now taking precedence and third-party servicing narrowing through 2027, CIOs should pair SAP modernization programs with a print infrastructure review and follow LRS’s guidance to adopt the driverless model rather than defer it.