Canon kicked me to the curb

[Victor Cachat]

Years ago, I sprung for a medium format printer from Canon (Pixma Pro 9000).

I wanted to be able to print up to 13" x 19" and replace individual tanks instead of multi-ink cartridges.

I put up with its ridiculous warm-up routine that seemed to waste enough ink to drain a low cartridge dry and take all day.

I even got a bunch of ink recently.

Then I upgraded to Windows 10.

The printer will not work.
Windows 10 even said it would not recognize the driver.

Here is Canon's response to all of us that shelled out money for their products:

"If you are considering upgrading your operating system, please be aware that the products below are not supported with Windows 10. Although Canon will not issue drivers for these products to support the Windows 10 operating system, the Windows 7 or Windows 8 drivers should function in the new Windows 10 environment with some limitations which are currently unknown to Canon. ."

That says to me that they no longer want my business.

A new Canon printer like mine would cost $900.

Why pay them that much when they will fail to support me down the road?
</rant>

[Mute]

Years ago, I sprung for a medium format printer from Canon (Pixma Pro 9000).

I wanted to be able to print up to 13" x 19" and replace individual tanks instead of multi-ink cartridges.

I put up with its ridiculous warm-up routine that seemed to waste enough ink to drain a low cartridge dry and take all day.

I even got a bunch of ink recently.

Then I upgraded to Windows 10.

The printer will not work.
Windows 10 even said it would not recognize the driver.

Here is Canon's response to all of us that shelled out money for their products:

"If you are considering upgrading your operating system, please be aware that the products below are not supported with Windows 10. Although Canon will not issue drivers for these products to support the Windows 10 operating system, the Windows 7 or Windows 8 drivers should function in the new Windows 10 environment with some limitations which are currently unknown to Canon. ."

That says to me that they no longer want my business.

A new Canon printer like mine would cost $900.

Why pay them that much when they will fail to support me down the road?
</rant>

Kind of the same reason I ditched Canon cameras back when they said $#* you very much to those of us with large collections of FD lenses, in favor of their newer auto-focus lens mount. Just get an Epson or dual boot your system.

[teetsjones]

Does Widows 10 allow you to run programs in compatibility mode?

[teetsjones]

Kind of the same reason I ditched Canon cameras back when they said $#* you very much to those of us with large collections of FD lenses, in favor of their newer auto-focus lens mount. Just get an Epson or dual boot your system.

That's the first thing that came to my mind.

[IntoForever]

Kind of the same reason I ditched Canon cameras back when they said $#* you very much to those of us with large collections of FD lenses, in favor of their newer auto-focus lens mount. Just get an Epson or dual boot your system.

That's the first thing that came to my mind.

I have an adapter which allows me to use the old lenses on my 50D.

+1 on trying the drivers in compatibility mode.

[Napalm Bulldog]

Same happened to me but did a system restore and got mine working again. Now windows 10 has gifted me the blue screen of death. Windows 10 is crap.

[eLeL]

The Pro 9000 was one of the worst Canon purchases I've ever made due to performance reasons you listed. Planned obsolescence is typical of electronics, printers included. If you aren't shy about another Canon wide format, they have rebates at least annually where you end up paying little out of pocket. Until you have to buy ink anyway.

[SonofWWIIDI]

The Pro 9000 was one of the worst Canon purchases I've ever made due to performance reasons you listed. Planned obsolescence is typical of electronics, printers included. If you aren't shy about another Canon wide format, they have rebates at least annually where you end up paying little out of pocket. Until you have to buy ink anyway.

^^^This. If things lasted and worked properly as long as they could be made to, they couldn't stay in business. Everything is now designed to fail after a certain period of time so you have to replace it. They change a small detail and suddenly parts/cartridges aren't compatible any longer. I wouldn't be surprised if the software companies have investigated a "death code" that kills your computer at a preset time/date.

It's a racket.

[tradecraft]

Have you tried

http://www.windows10forums.com/threads/win-10-upgrade-lost-print-driver-for-canon-pixma-pro9000.2519/

?

(Pretty happy with my Pro9000 but haven't fired it up since the Windows upgrade)

[The War Wagon]

William Conrad?!?! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...

[ocabj]

While this does suck, I do sort of understand why Canon didn't release Windows 10 drivers for this printer. Based on Google search, the Pixma Pro 9000 was released in 2006. So putting the time to write drivers for a nearly 10 year old printer is probably not worth their time.

One can argue this is bad customer support, but at what point does a hardware manufacturer decide a peripheral is end of life? 10 years? 15 years? 20 years?

That being said, I gave up on photo printers in general. I've used Canon photo/multifunction printers, but they just don't last. I'll get maybe a couple years out of them before they give up the ghost. With the cost of the printer, ink, and photo paper factored into the cost per print, it's actually just easier to get photos printed via service (e.g. online or local).

[Mute]

While this does suck, I do sort of understand why Canon didn't release Windows 10 drivers for this printer. Based on Google search, the Pixma Pro 9000 was released in 2006. So putting the time to write drivers for a nearly 10 year old printer is probably not worth their time.

One can argue this is bad customer support, but at what point does a hardware manufacturer decide a peripheral is end of life? 10 years? 15 years? 20 years?

That being said, I gave up on photo printers in general. I've used Canon photo/multifunction printers, but they just don't last. I'll get maybe a couple years out of them before they give up the ghost. With the cost of the printer, ink, and photo paper factored into the cost per print, it's actually just easier to get photos printed via service (e.g. online or local).

Same here. I hardly print any photos anymore because of all the electronic media devices nowadays. If I need something printed, I'll just take it to a printing service (at least for larger printouts). I can still use my old photo printer for anything 8x11 and under. I haven't upgraded to Windows 10 yet on my main desktop, but when I do, I'll probably dual boot it with Windows 7 just in case I need legacy compatibility.

[Mute]

Does Widows 10 allow you to run programs in compatibility mode?

Yes. Seems to work fairly well. But I haven't come across to many programs that went all that far back for compatibility requirements. I've helped some people who needed DOS compatibility and it still works fine.

[wheels]

When companies do this crap they go on my do not buy list - ever. The only one still in business on my list is Logitech.

They sometimes overestimate loyalty, and think they are entitled to your money every couple of years for a product that still works fine.

[vintagearms]

Canon has a 10 year rule about compatibility with parts and service, not including drivers. If u want print quality, go with Canon. If u want reliability, go with Epson. I've worked on them and thats what i have found.