Wayne generically refers to "high end" options, but no substantial info is provided.
I print with Apple drivers since the purchase of the R3000 and didn't suffered any lack of features.
What am I missing?
You're not missing anything, your R3000 is supported by Apple (
see list). If your printer is not in the list and the manufacturer doesn't offer drivers then CUPS/Gutenprint might be the solution. In this
old list (Mac OS X 10.5), you can see the distinction (Gutenprint vs OEM). Some printers are supported by both the manufacturer and CUPS/Gutenprint and this is where the problem starts if you add your printer via CUPS instead of the OEM driver. From the linked document:
Some of the included drivers were developed through the Gutenprint open source project. Others are sample drivers included with CUPS.
You might use one of these drivers if no Mac OS X driver is available from a printer's manufacturer or when the manufacturer's driver does not support a specific feature of your printer. Please note that open source drivers may not support all features of your printer.HTH and don't loose sleep over that stuff!