Printer and scanner drivers break with every major OS update, orphaning functional hardware

When Microsoft or Apple ships a major OS update (Windows 11 24H2, macOS Sequoia), peripheral manufacturers must release updated drivers. Many do not — particularly for devices more than 3-5 years old. A perfectly functional $300 laser printer or $500 document scanner becomes a paperweight overnight because the manufacturer has decided it is 'end of life' and will not release a 64-bit or ARM-compatible driver. So what? A small law firm that upgraded to Windows 11 on new Copilot+ PCs (ARM architecture) discovers that their $2,000 Fujitsu document scanner and $800 HP LaserJet have no ARM-compatible drivers and will never get them. So what? Replacing both peripherals costs $2,800+ and requires staff retraining, workflow reconfiguration, and potential compatibility testing with their document management system — a total disruption cost of $5,000-$10,000 for a 5-person office. So what? The firm cannot delay the OS upgrade because Microsoft ends security patches for the old version, creating a forced choice between security and peripheral compatibility. So what? This artificially shortens the usable life of commercial-grade hardware that mechanically has 10-20 years of service life, generating massive e-waste — printers and scanners contain plastics, toner chemicals, and circuit boards that do not decompose. So what? Small businesses learn to distrust OS upgrades entirely, delaying security patches and running vulnerable systems for years to preserve peripheral compatibility, which creates systemic cybersecurity risk. This persists because peripheral manufacturers profit from forced hardware replacement cycles and have no incentive to maintain drivers for older products. The Windows driver model changes with each major release, requiring active porting work. Linux's open-source driver ecosystem (CUPS, SANE) provides better long-term support but is not accessible to typical small-business users. Apple's transition from Intel to ARM (Apple Silicon) orphaned an entire generation of peripherals simultaneously.