Unfortunately, the answer is no. Windows 2000 is nothing more than
Windows NT 5, and the Windows NT environment does not support
the "Windows Printing System" (WPS aka GDI) as known by
Windows 3.11/95/98/ME. Since the Windows XP core appears
to be also mostly based on NT, I assume, the printer will not work
under XP either.
Since the NEC SuperScript 6xx laser printer series are GDI dump
printers, they have no "intelligence" whatsoever on their own.
Most GDI printers don´t even have a CPU or any significant amount
of memory - all they have is a power supply, a small input buffer
and amplifiers/drivers for the printer´s mechanics and optics.
This is why GDI printers can be manufactured so cheap, but the
drawback is, that they are totally dependent on Windows, and
since the printing process is very timing-sensitive, all other tasks
are virtually suspended during printing, something that cannot be
allowed in a true multitasking OS such as NT.
Personally I suggest to not buy any GDI/WPS printers (even if they
are cheaper), because you will be bound to Windows 3.11/9x/Me
with them. You cannot even print a simple text from plain DOS.
There are projects to provide support for some GDI printers under
Linux, but this is still very experimental, because the details how
to control these printers are not documented.
A partial solution might be to physically connect the "WinPrinter" to
a spare Windows 3.11/9x/Me box, install it either as "NEC SuperScript
PCL or PCL5e" (depending on model), or as "NEC SuperScript PS
or PS2" (depending on model) and share this printer in a NT network.
If you want to use the remote "PCL printer" under NT, you will need
to install either the driver for the HP Laserjet IIP (for the SuperScript
610 and 610plus) or the HP Laserjet 4P (for the other SuperScript
models), or the driver for the NEC Silentwriter 95 for a remote
"PostScript printer" - fonts to be sent as contour. This should allow
to continue to use these printers in a NT network. |
