An area in which Microsoft Windows NT Server is lacking, compared to the competing systems of NetWare and Unix, is in the management of printing (capacity to account for who printed what and when). Where this matters is when departments of a company pay for the use of the printers. An example of this is in the control of a colored laser printer, where printing is much more expensive.

NT all by itself has only basic features for print management NT cannot limit a user to how much he/she can print. However, thanks to Print Manager Plus from Software Shelf, NT is now able to do this. You can download the fully functional evaluation of Print Manager Plus from www.printmanagerplus.com free for 30 days.

With it you can configure users or groups to have quotas based on number of pages they print it is ideal to monitor how much is printed to each device. You can limit printing to any user who exceeds a definitive number of pages over a certain number of days. Where an employee exceeds his/her quota in the designated time period, he/she will not be able to print more.

All data of who prints how much is recorded in a database that can easily be controlled with Access or Excel. The information can be exported to a variety of formats. Other restrictions can be applied to a printer. For example, you can prohibit printing by file type or prohibit printing when a job exceeds a certain megabyte size or page count. Such restrictions can be made per user or per group. Print Manager Plus supports printing from all operating systems via an NT Print Server.

Aside from users of all types of Windows systems, users of Unix and Mac can also control their printing with Print Manger Plus. Print Manager Plus is easy to install and to use. Although its appeal is not universal for all enterprises, those that desire to control printing with these advanced features will obtain real benefits from buying the product.