It’s 2026 (seriously, when did that happen?) and for the print-management community, this feels less like a small pivot and more like the start of some tectonic shift. Windows 10 is officially gone (RIP), and exactly what comes next hasn’t been figured out yet.
Several big trends look set to reshape how organizations manage print infrastructure, security, and device fleets this year. And let’s be frank, who doesn’t love a wildly speculative tech prediction article?
Here’s everything we’re keeping an eye on in 2026.
Windows 10 is gone, and AI-equipped ARM64 PCs are rising fast
The formal end-of-life date for Windows 10 was 14 October 2025. That was when Microsoft finished providing security patches, feature updates, or tech support for Windows 10.
With security risks rising on unsupported devices, and with most organizations unable or unwilling to hang around on Windows 10 under those conditions, we’re definitely anticipating a strong uptick in PC refresh cycles. And leading that refresh will likely be ARM64 devices, optimized for AI.
Already several of the most used Windows applications have native ARM64 builds, and emulation for legacy x86 apps has improved, in 2026 we expect ARM64 to move from “okay that’s kind of interesting” to, in many cases, “standard for enterprise fleets”.
That shift matters for print management, because new endpoint hardware often changes driver compatibility, security posture, and the types of printing workflows enterprises actually support. In other words, switching to ARM is all well and good, but be ready to run into some speed bumps.
For vendors like us, this means being prepared (and we are). Expect more ARM-based endpoints, more mixed-architecture fleets, and a big need for print solutions that behave reliably across those environments.
Windows Protected Print (WPP) will pick up… but slowly
Although WPP promises improved print security by sandboxing driver-based printing, compatibility issues and user disruption have undoubtedly handicapped its adoption.
At the time of writing, less than 2% of PaperCut customers are using WPP, and 70% of those that are using it have only enabled it on a single PC. So yeah, the WPP tsunami is probably still a while away.
Probably because switching on WPP can sometimes switch off existing driver-based print functionality, which means losing a few of your advanced features (stapling, finishing, custom driver options and so on).
For many organizations, the ROI (particularly that crucial 6–12 month runway period) doesn’t justify the investment, especially given that a bunch of printer models may not be fully supported under WPP just yet.
When you add all this up, our prediction for 2026 is that WPP adoption will continue to tick upwards, albeit slowly.
Unless a major security incident forces a rapid rethink, WPP will probably remain a nice-to-have, rather than some commercial baseline. Expect organizations to tick the box on one or two devices, without going all-in on fleet-wide deployment.
More ARM-native printer drivers, and the shift away from PSAs
As the endpoint ecosystem evolves, we reckon we’ll see more printer and MFP manufacturers releasing ARM-native drivers, rather than relying solely on the broad-stroke approach of Printer Support Applications (PSAs). Same thing for generic universal drivers.
Why? Well, for one, organizations adopting ARM64 endpoints will want full support for all their advanced printer features: finishing, duplex printing, scanning, secure release workflows etc. Functions that are sometimes missing or degraded under generic drivers.
With many manufacturers already moving to support ARM across laptops and desktops, it only makes sense for printer makers to follow suit, otherwise their devices are going to be severely cramped in mixed fleets. 2026 will probably see the first large wave of new printers sold with full ARM-native driver support, which is pretty exciting.
Zero-trust printing will be hot, hot, hot
Security isn’t just about patching operating systems anymore. In 2026, we expect the principle of Zero Trust to become a baseline requirement in many organizations, including within their print environments.
As hybrid work, cloud services and IoT-enabled printers become the norm, perimeter-based security models increasingly look pretty ineffective. Zero Trust just makes more sense.
For printers, this means stuff like: authentication at print, encrypted print-job transmission, strict access controls, multi-factor authentication, and preferably network segmentation or Zero-Trust Network Access (ZTNA).
For print management vendors, the equation is simple. If your solution can’t support Zero-Trust, enterprise clients aren’t going to return your calls.
Cloud print management becomes the norm
This prediction gets rolled out every year, and every year it becomes a little more true. While cloud print adoption has surged in recent years, many organizations are still cautious, mostly due to security and data sovereignty reasons.
As a print management vendor, and as cloud print technology becomes better, more secure and more stable, we’re starting to see those concerns shrink (if not disappear entirely).
You want stats? A recent study found that cloud print management adoption rose from 55% in 2023 to 69% in 2024. Some industry analysts are predicting that, by 2026, 16% of organizations will manage their entire print fleets from the cloud. It’s not critical mass yet, but it’s on the rise.
For a lot of companies, the hybrid approach (with its mix of cloud print and on-prem print servers) will do just fine, especially in organizations with large multi-vendor fleets or concerns around print sovereignty.
But over time, and as features like secure release, auditing, user authentication, role-based access, and cloud-native driver management get better and better, we expect cloud-centric print management to outcompete older on-prem models. Especially for distributed organizations with lots of satellite offices.
The device battle will heat up big time
As 2026 unfolds, the battle for device market share between Microsoft, Google and Apple will likely get even fiercer. We’re approaching the neither-can-live-while-the-other-survives point here. Each brand is positioning itself as the central hub for enterprise productivity, identity, cloud services and (increasingly) print.
Microsoft is leaning heavily into its Copilot+ AI-enabled PCs under Windows 11, with ARM64 support, integrated cloud services and deep enterprise-IT tooling. Pretty nifty stuff.
Google continues to push its cloud-first ecosystem via Chromebooks and ChromeOS. And Apple, as always, remains strong in design-forward, user-friendly devices with tight integration.
We expect most organizations will keep deploying mixed-device fleets. ARM Windows laptops and desktops, Chromebooks, Apple devices, all coexisting happily under unified cloud and printing infrastructure. It’s just another reason why print management in 2026 must be platform agnostic, and clients can’t be restricted to any single OS.
Whose cuisine will reign supreme? Well, that’s anyone’s guess.
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