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I remember in the early days of WinNT we had the same problem with drivers as
we are experiencing now with x64 (actually I remember it being worse back
then). It wasn't until the driver model was unified that driver support
really became workable, but that was mostly due to XP 32 becoming the
mainstream OS.

So the question is, does anyone know what model "Longhorn" will require for
drivers? Will they be similar to x64 and maybe just require a recompile? I
hope that microsoft has some plan to unify the driver model again. Anyone
know?

Curto.

"Curto" <> wrote in message
news:0FD229B4-4D77-44A1-B111-...
>I remember in the early days of WinNT we had the same problem with drivers
>as
> we are experiencing now with x64 (actually I remember it being worse back
> then). It wasn't until the driver model was unified that driver support
> really became workable, but that was mostly due to XP 32 becoming the
> mainstream OS.
>
> So the question is, does anyone know what model "Longhorn" will require
> for
> drivers?

The drivers are pretty much the same. There are some changes to graphics
card drivers to the new Longhorn Device Driver Model )LDDM). This allows
for some of the new advances in technology being implemented in Longhorn.
E.g. at a superficial level the Glass effect Aero interface is only
available on LDDM cards that meet the required specification.

> Will they be similar to x64 and maybe just require a recompile? I
> hope that microsoft has some plan to unify the driver model again. Anyone
> know?

It is not about a unified model. x64 (64-bit) drivers need to be
rewritten - we have not diverged the driver model they are the "same" but
compliled for x86 (32-bit) and x64 (64-bit). The LDDM is just a new type of
graphics drivers - it does not "break" the underlying model as they are both
built as x86 and x64.

--

Regards,

Mike
--
Mike Brannigan [Microsoft]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights

Please note I cannot respond to e-mailed questions, please use these
newsgroups

"Curto" <> wrote in message
news:0FD229B4-4D77-44A1-B111-...
>I remember in the early days of WinNT we had the same problem with drivers
>as
> we are experiencing now with x64 (actually I remember it being worse back
> then). It wasn't until the driver model was unified that driver support
> really became workable, but that was mostly due to XP 32 becoming the
> mainstream OS.
>
> So the question is, does anyone know what model "Longhorn" will require
> for
> drivers? Will they be similar to x64 and maybe just require a recompile?
> I
> hope that microsoft has some plan to unify the driver model again. Anyone
> know?
>
> Curto.
>

Might want to look at the MS newsgroups ending in ".winfx.___" for updated
info on Longhorn.

"Curto" <> wrote in message
news:0FD229B4-4D77-44A1-B111-...
> I remember in the early days of WinNT we had the same problem with drivers
as
> we are experiencing now with x64 (actually I remember it being worse back
> then). It wasn't until the driver model was unified that driver support
> really became workable, but that was mostly due to XP 32 becoming the
> mainstream OS.
>
> So the question is, does anyone know what model "Longhorn" will require
for
> drivers? Will they be similar to x64 and maybe just require a recompile?
I
> hope that microsoft has some plan to unify the driver model again. Anyone
> know?
>
> Curto.
>

If longhorn is marketed as a consumer product then yes the driver situation
will improve. With winnt microsoft pushed it as a server os that was
supposed to run on "server hardware" so many manufacturers never bothered to
write drivers for it. x64 is in a similar situation, ms isn't selling it
directly to customers so driver availability will probably be limited for a
while.
"Curto" <> wrote in message
news:0FD229B4-4D77-44A1-B111-...
>I remember in the early days of WinNT we had the same problem with drivers
>as
> we are experiencing now with x64 (actually I remember it being worse back
> then). It wasn't until the driver model was unified that driver support
> really became workable, but that was mostly due to XP 32 becoming the
> mainstream OS.
>
> So the question is, does anyone know what model "Longhorn" will require
> for
> drivers? Will they be similar to x64 and maybe just require a recompile?
> I
> hope that microsoft has some plan to unify the driver model again. Anyone
> know?
>
> Curto.
>

Actually no, Microsoft never pushed NT directly as a Server OS, it was
targetted at network computing in both Server and client side. Anyway, I
never had problems with NT when it was released it worked flawlessly on my
Zenith GT Workstation in 96.
--
Andre
Extended64 | http://www.extended64.com
Blog | http://www.extended64.com/blogs/andre
http://spaces.msn.com/members/adacosta
FAQ for MS AntiSpy http://www.geocities.com/marfer_mvp/FAQ_MSantispy.htm

"Monster" <> wrote in message
news:...
> If longhorn is marketed as a consumer product then yes the driver
> situation will improve. With winnt microsoft pushed it as a server os that
> was supposed to run on "server hardware" so many manufacturers never
> bothered to write drivers for it. x64 is in a similar situation, ms isn't
> selling it directly to customers so driver availability will probably be
> limited for a while.
> "Curto" <> wrote in message
> news:0FD229B4-4D77-44A1-B111-...
>>I remember in the early days of WinNT we had the same problem with drivers
>>as
>> we are experiencing now with x64 (actually I remember it being worse back
>> then). It wasn't until the driver model was unified that driver support
>> really became workable, but that was mostly due to XP 32 becoming the
>> mainstream OS.
>>
>> So the question is, does anyone know what model "Longhorn" will require
>> for
>> drivers? Will they be similar to x64 and maybe just require a recompile?
>> I
>> hope that microsoft has some plan to unify the driver model again.
>> Anyone
>> know?
>>
>> Curto.
>>
>
>