v1.5.0 — Windows asks for the printer's own driver, and a steadier desktop

v1.5.0 — Windows asks for the printer's own driver, and a steadier desktop

When SpoolSmith sets a printer up by IP address through Windows' automatic IPP
setup, or converts a WSD queue to its verified IP endpoint, it now also asks
Windows for that printer's own driver and keeps the Microsoft IPP Class Driver
if Windows has nothing better.

• Native driver step. After the queue is created and its endpoint verified,
  SpoolSmith looks for a driver registered under the printer's reported model
  name, tries Add-PrinterDriver for it, then searches Windows Update for exactly
  one matching printer driver. If one is found the queue is switched to it; the
  endpoint is checked before and after, and the class driver is put back if the
  check fails. The step is time-limited to five minutes and never fails the
  install. The plan you confirm shows the step and the model it will look up,
  but cannot name the driver, because Windows chooses it during the apply.
  SpoolSmith itself downloads nothing. RAW TCP/IP plans, --offline plans and
  the catalog are unchanged.
• Status and reapply accept a queue on either the class driver or the
  model-named driver, as long as its endpoint is verified. Any other driver is
  still refused.
• A switch that cannot be restored is shown as a failure. If Windows changes
  the driver and the class driver cannot be put back, the checklist now says so
  with Windows' reason instead of drawing a quiet skip.
• Tab works in the main window. Tab and Shift+Tab moved nowhere on most
  pages; they now walk every control in order.
• Steadier desktop. Checking a saved setup's status and verifying a printer
  file no longer freeze the window. A failed step now says earlier steps may
  already have been applied and that adding the same printer again reuses what
  exists.
• Your saved-setups folder is remembered. The default is the folder you last
  chose; otherwise profiles beside the app when that is writable, otherwise
  %LOCALAPPDATA%\SpoolSmith\profiles, which is what a machine-wide MSI install
  needs. SPOOLSMITH_PROFILES_DIR still overrides it.

What is not verified

Hardware validation, 2026-10-02. On the Brother HL-L2315D PC, the native-driver step
switched an IPP queue from the Microsoft IPP Class Driver to the printer's own driver, a
re-apply recognised it as already in use, and the original WSD queue was restored. That
driver was already installed on the PC, so a real Windows Update download is still
unverified: a read-only scan found no pending driver updates, and where Windows offers
no driver for a model the step is expected to skip and leave the class driver. Check a
test page after setup.

Clean-target USB staging, cross-PC apply and physical printing remain unverified,
as in v1.4.0. The change was made at the operator's direction ahead of board
review and is a ratify-or-reverse decision for the company board; reverting it
means IPP setups keep the Microsoft IPP Class Driver, and queues already switched
to a native driver stay on it.

Validation

Full Windows Go suite, Windows and Linux vet, and the complete desktop suite
(40/40 at 125% display scaling, including a new accessibility audit of every
page) passed. A read-only adversarial review of the change found eight issues, all
fixed. The site passed a browser check at 360, 390, 768 and 1440 px with no
horizontal overflow and no WCAG 2 A/AA axe violations. Not covered: other display
scales, Windows high contrast and a screen reader; accessible names in the desktop
are internal ids rather than readable labels. See
the release verification record.