Microsoft announces the public preview of Universal Print

Microsoft today announced a new a Microsoft 365 service, Universal Print. It is a cloud printer connector that allows organizations to save their time and money on installing and servicing printers.

Universal Print provides a user-friendly, easy print experience that also:

• Eliminates the need to install printer drivers because it is built into the Windows experience
• Helps you to find printers both near and outside of your current location
• Enables print from zero-trust networks via single sign-on (SSO) when connected to the internet and authenticated to Azure Active Directory (Azure AD).

For IT professionals who are managing print, Universal Print offers:

• A print solution to unblock the move to the cloud and support print for Azure AD users.
• Managed printing in zero-trust networks.
• Eliminates the need to manage print servers or the need for complex hybrid print solutions.
• A centralized portal that enables robust management capabilities.
• Visibility and insights into your print with reporting.
• Print data stored in the same manner as other Microsoft Office data, in accordance with Microsoft’s data management guidelines.
• Printer deployment and default printer configuration on end-user devices using Microsoft Endpoint Manager (Microsoft Intune).

Microsoft is rolling out the Universal Print public preview to data centers in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific in waves over the next weeks. The company will start with Microsoft 365 E5 and A5 tenants, followed by customers who have a Microsoft 365 E3 or A3 subscriptions, and then those who have Windows 10 E3, A3 and E5 only subscriptions. And finally, Microsoft will finish the roll-out with Microsoft 365 Business Premium and Microsoft 365 Firstline F3 customers.

If you would like to participate in the public preview, navigate to the following page aka.ms/UP_TryNow for the details.