halftones without rip software

hey everyone, i have been reading about how to print halftones and that you need the special rip software to do it and am probably going to get the blackmax set up, but i decided to do a print test first with my reg. inkjet (hp 8550) so i typed my name in corel x4, gave it an outline, and a gradient fill, converted it to a bitmap, then to halftones, and went to print preview clicked color separations and printed it on plain white paper and it looks like the printer printed the halftones petty good. does anyone no why because i read that reg inkjets won't print halftones. and one more thing is i did the artwork in all pantone colors and after converting it to a bitmap it color separated in the 4 color process, is there a way to keep it pantone colors. thanks for the help Phil H.