MakerBot and Windows 8.1

[DerekPeterson]

Looks like MakerBot is jumping on the new Windows 8.1 app that Microsoft has announced.

I'm glad they are taking all the steps to prevent other big companies from jumping in and competing (like HP).

Here is an article on how MakerBot and Windows 8.1 will work (taken from http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news...rinting-132015)
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“With Windows 8.1 and using the new MakerBot 3D Printer Driver, users can open a 3D design in a program like 123D Design or SolidWorks, and tell the file to print directly to a MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer; it’s as fast and easy as printing a Word document on a 2D printer,” boasted the company in a statement.
MakerBot collaborated with Microsoft to help bring the technology to market. “We have been working closely with Microsoft to prepare the printer driver to provide the familiar plug-and-play capabilities of Windows with the MakerBot Replicator 2,” said chief executive Bre Pettis in a statement.He added that the driver-OS combo “rounds out even more of the MakerBot 3D Ecosystem that is designed to make 3D design and printing super easy and accessible”. His company’s ecosystem now includes the Digitiser Desktop 3D Scanner. The hardware, Pettis asserts, gives 3D printing enthusiasts a “jumpstart on the design process because users don’t need to start from scratch”.MakerBot also announced an ambitious crowdfunding plan to get a 3D printer in every school. In a statement, the company said it is “is eager to do its part to educate today’s students, who are the next generation of innovative makers, engineers, product designers, architects and artists, who could benefit from having 3D printing technology in the classroom”.Microsoft, no stranger to classroom IT, or IT in general, could help further streamline the technology.

[Lindros_bigE]

They would have been stupid not to make something compatible with anything Microsoft comes out with. I'm wondering if Microsoft plans on coming out with any type of printer themselves, or just sticking to software.