Network printing, more driver issues

Question

A simple HP990 connected to an IP print server is a disaster under OS X.
1) HP provides drivers that work wonderfully - as long as it's USB (wired)
2) HP drivers dissapear if ADD PRINTER cannot physically find printer during install
3) GIMP drivers are latest - and they are almost 2 years old
4) No 2-way comm w/printer - this is NOT an IP issue
5) Dozens of printer features are unavailable to OS - show ink etc
6) Duplexing is just plain broken
7) Although HP drivers are installed, they will NOT be available to you if printer is not connected via a WIRE. This is rediculous.
8) IP "Find Printer" does not work. Cannot even find Linux printers, much less Windows, netBeui, or Wireless printers.
9) If you force printer model, you cannot use proper HP drivers. Must use GIMP.
10) Once printer is installed/configured, you CANNOT change ports. Again this is redic.
I was told OS X was VERY problematic with printing. It's the achilles heel in an otherwise wonderful OS environment.
Come on, Apple. Fire the printer guy over there and get this stuff straight.

Answer 1

THe HP deskjet driver does not support printing to a DeskJet 990 connected to a generic TCP/IP print server.
In Mac OS X 10.0 and 10.1 the printer drivers had to enumerate the communication protocols that they supported. This requirement was removed in 10.2 but many of the printer manufacturers still provide drivers that are tied to specific protocols. The HP provided DeskJet 990 driver support USB and AppleTalk. It may also support printing over TCP/IP to an HP JetDirect server but I've never tried that.
The Gimp-Print drivers are written so that they are independent of the communications protocol used. The Gimp-Print drivers will work over USB, Bluetooth, LPD, IPP, AppleTalk, socket, SMB, and other protocols. The Gimp-Print project is very active. It is currently closing on the release of version 5. The project has been renamed Gutenprint. You can find more information here: http://gimp-print.sourceforge.net/
1. HP drivers work over USB and over TCP/IP depending upon the printer model. For example the Photosmart 2510 driver works great over a wireless connection using TCP/IP to that printer.
2. I'm not sure what is being described in this bullet item.
3. The latest version of Gimp-Print is v5.0rc2. As noted above the project is now called Gutenprint.
4. The HP drivers support bidirectional communication. The Gimp-Print drivers do not support bidirectional communications yet but they will likely do so soon.
5. Some drivers support low ink detection and some do not. The drivers that do support low ink detection show it in the print dialog and in the desktop printer. Most drivers also come with Utilities for checking ink levels and these are linked to by the desktop printer.
6. Duplexing works fine using the HP drivers. Are you having a problem with duplex and the Gimp-Print driver?
7. As discussed above the HP drivers can not be hooked to a communications protocol they do not explicitly support. This has nothing to do with wired versus wireless.
8. The Add printer browser shows locally attached printers, AppleTalk printers, Bonjour TCP/IP based printers, and printers shared from Linux CUPS servers. Other printers can be found by hitting "More Printers."
9. Again, yes, the HP drivers can not be used over a generic TCP/IP connection such as LPD, IPP, or socket. The Gimp-Print drivers do work over these connections. So do the HPIJS drivers. The HPIJS drivers can be found here: http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/9979.
10. This is true. If the TCP/IP address changes on a printer then you need to re-add the printer.
I hope this is helpful.