Runs on Windows XP, Windows 7 64bit and 64bit Ubuntu

The unit is to run with us in the household on the network (wired to the router) and 3 different operating systems work: WinXP 32bit, Win7 64bit and 64bit Ubuntu. To make story short: It all works smoothly.

Here a bit more detail:

1) Installation under Windows 7 64bit
In some earlier reviews of the device's problems with Windows 7 speech. The reason were missing drivers. Meanwhile, however, are included in each new device is a Windows 7 driver CD and an accompanying Quick Start Guide. Basically the installation is the same than for other Windows versions, except that you just used the other CD.
During installation, you will eventually reach the point at which the printer is located on the network. You then know him to an IP address. Until he missed a matching address, it is but perhaps blocked by the firewall. If the printer is not found, simply turn off the firewall and repeat the search. After assigning the address, you can enable the firewall.

2.) Installation for Windows XP 32bit
Since the printer after installation was assigned under Win7 already an IP address, the corresponding point has been completely skipped during installation. Except for the mandatory licensing where you have to agree, the installation went through without any questions.

3.) installation on Ubuntu 10.04 64 bit
The necessary drivers have to be downloaded from the Brother website. The installation is of course not as comfortable as on Windows, but ultimately feasible. Highly recommended is the appropriate article in the Wiki Ubuntu Forums, where the installation of a printer and scanner (must be installed separately) is described step by step. This guidance essentially follows the guidance of Brother, but modified slightly and easier to understand.

Ultimately, it has just printed an hour lasted until the MFC-5490CN among all 3 systems and scanned. From experience with various hardware, I can say: This is anything but self-evident. In addition, the boot times are not extended significantly through the driver installation. This should be partly different from the competition.

Conclusion:
Driver side, the device is as far as I can judge perfectly. I did not know what Brother still could have done better. Especially that they take care of the Linux driver itself and not wait for that to find any volunteers write a driver is exemplary.