Will Microsoft Prevail With Kinect Drivers for the PC?

Will Microsoft Manage Kinect for the PC

Microsoft is now fully (and apparently transparently) behind the development of Windows drivers for the Kinect. The question is whether Microsoft is ahead of the Kinect-for-PC development? At the most recent CES, Microsoft left the impression that it will be giving away the Kinect drivers and relying on the sales of the Kinect device to generate revenue.

Of course there are a few rules to content with, one of the most notable being that open source drivers and the Xbox version of the Kinect can’t be used for commercial projects. Developers may also be limited to projects that run on Windows 7 and/or Windows 8. Noncommercial projects may only use the Windows software developer kit to write code for the company’s Kinect for Windows hardware.

Do all of these restrictions add up to too much Microsoft muddling in the Kinect soup? Initially, Microsoft wanted to limit Kinect development to the Xbox. With the release of open source drivers, Microsoft lost some of the control over development for the Kinect, though not necessarily development for the Xbox. Following the release of the Prime Sense drivers, Microsoft has reasserted its control over the development of PC applications for the Kinect following an open source model for the drivers.

It’s hard to know where Kinect for the PC development will be in a year, but it’s safe to say that the Kinect’s appeal extends beyond game applications. Developers expect to produce applications related to art, medicine, the military, automobiles, manufacturing and more. While some analysts think that Microsoft has repositioned itself ahead of the pack on Kinect PC development, I’m more skeptical.

Microsoft didn’t have a plan beyond the Xbox for the Kinect. Only begrudgingly did it extend the drivers to the PC, and only after this did the real potential for the hardware come into sharper focus for the company. Despite Microsoft’s efforts to control the direction of the Kinect for the PC, I think the open source development of applications and eventually the introduction of the next-generation of depth-sensing controller hardware will allow for the development of genuinely “open” applications. That doesn’t mean “open source” development, but rather development that can – but isn’t required to – develop according to Microsoft’s rules.
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Windows Update May or May Not Cover Device Drivers

Updates Will Never Be Fully Automatic

Microsoft will distribute device drivers from manufacturers, provided that the device drivers are up to Microsoft’s driver standards and that the manufacturer makes the driver available for distribution. Not all device manufacturers choose to distribute drivers like this, so not all device drivers are distributed via Windows Update.

While some device drivers are part of the “automatic update” routine, others are left behind. By itself, this may leave some users with the mistaken impression that all device drivers they need, want or use will be delivered to their computer as updates become available. In reality, some device drivers are distributed automatically and others aren’t.

For those device drivers that are not automatically updated, the user must make the effort to go out to the manufacturer website, locate the correct driver, download it and install it. One key ingredient – letting a user know that a new driver is available – is missing. Unless the user is paying attention, or has an application installed to flag updated device drivers, the user could go for months or years not even realizing that a new device driver is available.

That’s precisely why I use Driver Detective to manage and maintain all of the device drivers on my personal computers. Driver Detective takes the work out of device driver maintenance by monitoring for driver updates. It also monitors the performance of my installed drivers and lets me know when a device driver is missing, corrupted or otherwise misbehaving.

Driver Detective stores a local copy of the device driver, so if replacement is required, the new installation can take place quickly, without having to go out to the manufacturer’s website and download a fresh copy. When a new driver is available, Driver Detective retrieves the new driver and installs it, retaining a backup copy of the old driver in the event I want to roll back to an older driver version.

Best of all, I don’t have to remember to check the hardware manufacturer’s websites for driver updates. Driver Detective does all of that for me and maintains a library of the drivers I need for my specific hardware configuration. Download your copy of Driver Detective today and see what you’ve been missing out on!

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Keeping Drivers Updated Can Improve Application Performance

OS Faux Pas Are Legendary

Most of the time, we hear about OS failures, spectacular or otherwise. A new version of the OS comes out and all heck can break loose. Applications, on the other hand rarely gain much attention, possibly because even the most popular applications aren’t as embedded in the marketplace as operating systems are.

When you download and install a new application or an application update, and you’re not entirely happy with the performance, before you blame the new software code or roll it back to an older version, be sure to check out your drivers and make sure that you’re running the latest versions.

That could include the latest versions of your sound and graphics drivers, which can be critical for a satisfying gaming experience. If you use your computer to do heavy-duty computing – like number-crunching or graphic design/engineering work, you’ll also want to be sure that your graphics drivers are in good working order.

For games or other applications that run simultaneously from the hard disk and a CD-ROM or DVD, you’ll also want to check the drivers for your media drive(s). If your old drivers can’t keep up, they can seriously impede the flow of data between the drive and the processor.

Don’t rely on Microsoft to dole out the driver updates you need. Not all manufacturers use the Microsoft distribution option, so you could find yourself operating under the mistaken assumption that your drivers are up-to-date when in fact, they’re not.

For me, I can think of few less appealing ways to spend my time than downloading driver updates. As a technician, I’m paid to maintain computers all the time, but when I’m on my own time, I try to maximize my return and minimize my efforts, all while keeping my PC completely updated.

That’s why I use Driver Detective to maintain my PC hardware drivers. Driver Detective downloads, installs and backs up copies of my current driver, ensuring that my drivers are always updated. I can also roll back a new driver to an older version if I’m not happy with the performance of the new installation.

Driver Detective has been downloaded and used by millions of users who swear by it. Download a copy today and see for yourself what a difference regular driver maintenance can make.

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Windows Driver Updates Gone Bad

Updating Drivers Is A Necessary Step

Updating drivers isn’t always an automatic process. In fact, there are several holes in what appears to be an “automated” update regimen that may leave users without the most current version of a driver, or with a driver version that doesn’t work the way it should.

First, most drivers you use on your Windows computer come from someplace other than Microsoft. Some – but not all – manufacturers use the Windows update to distribute driver updates. There are – to say the least – several noticeable absences. (Think Dell.) If your driver updates aren’t delivered to your computer, and you have no reliable mechanism to find out about driver updates, you could find yourself several revisions behind.

This usually crops up after a Windows update has been applied and some of your drivers no longer work, or do things you’re not expecting. If you find yourself in this situation, the best thing to do is verify – by going back to the manufacturer’s support site, if necessary – that you have the most current version of the hardware driver that supports your errant device.

Of course, going straight to the source will help ensure that you get the driver you’re looking for, but many users don’t know exactly what system they have or what driver they need. Download and install the right driver and everything is fine. Download and install the wrong driver, and well – let’s just say that things could get interesting.

If you’ve picked up a driver update from Windows Update and your hardware devices stop working as advertised, Windows may have delivered the wrong update to your computer. As I said, I think the manufacturers (and Microsoft) try hard to make sure this doesn’t happen, but occasionally it does happen. Again, the solution is to go back to the driver source and select, download and install the correct driver.

I’ve said it before. I’m not really a fan of doing dull maintenance work on my computer, and downloading drivers falls into the “dull maintenance work” category. I use a driver maintenance program called Driver Detective to manage all of the Windows drivers on my computer.

Driver Detective takes the guesswork out of driver maintenance and also helps to ensure that I get the most recent driver updates as soon as they become available. Check out Driver Detective for your driver maintenance needs.

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Windows Driver Maintenance Sometimes Requires More

Automatic Installation Doesn’t Always Provide Good Results

If you maintain your drivers on your own – that is, you personally download the drivers and go through the installation routine – you may find yourself in a tight spot on occasion. There are times when it is either desirable or necessary to roll back a driver installation – that is, go back to the older version you had been using. If you don’t know how to roll back your driver upgrade/update, you can spend a lot of fruitless and frustrating hours dealing with your non-functional or semi-functional computer, bricked hardware or unexpected system crashes.

Why? Sometimes a new driver update doesn’t work as advertised, or it “breaks” something else you need or want on your computer. In either of these cases, getting your computer back to the condition it was in before the update is the only way to reclaim your lost functions or rid yourself of troublesome software.

If you believe Microsoft, most system crashes are the result of bad third-party drivers. Whether that’s true or not makes little difference when your system has crashed for the umpteenth time and you’re simply trying to get your system back together. If you find yourself in the position of having installed a new driver, and then you experience system crashes, instabilities, or your attached hardware no longer works properly, you may want to roll back the suspect driver to an earlier version. To do this, you’ll need the Device Manager.

Access the Device Manager through the Run box under the Start menu by entering “Device Manager” and press Enter. The Device Manager manages all devices connected to your computer, so you’ll need to find the “category” your suspect driver falls into. Double-click on the suspect to open the Properties dialog box. Under the Driver tab, you’ll find a button labeled “Roll back driver.” This option should uninstall the suspect driver and reinstall the next most-recent version.

If this seems like a lot of work, it is. That’s why I recommend Driver Detective as an alternative to maintaining your drivers manually. Driver Detective will seek out, download, install and maintain a copy of the current driver, as well as historical drivers that enable you to roll back to an earlier version. If your current driver becomes corrupted, Driver Detective has everything on hand to reinstall a fresh copy of the driver automatically. Download a copy today and see for yourself what a difference Driver Detective can make.

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Patch Tuesday Nails Kernel Mode Driver Exploit

Duqu Shares Some Traits of Stuxnet

In the months that it was in the wild, Duqu was widely distributed throughout Europe and the United States. The vulnerability was particularly troublesome because it will allow a malefactor to gain administrative access to an infected computer, and will allow the installation and execution of software, administrative tasks like account creation and the compromise of user data.

The Patch Tuesday delivery contained 13 updates for various flaws. Originally, Microsoft planned to roll out 14 patches, but one was pulled back to address some compatibility issues. With Tuesday’s rollout, Microsoft has delivered 99 updates so far in 2011. The company hasn’t necessarily closed the books on updates, though. Microsoft often issues a minor “Patch Tuesday” on the fourth Tuesday of the month, which this year falls on December 27.

In addition to putting the brakes on Duqu, Microsoft addressed 18 other known vulnerabilities in 12 patches. Those vulnerabilities included critical or important holes in Active X, Windows Media Player/Windows Media Center, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Active Directory and Internet Explorer that could potentially allow the execution of code by a remote user. Microsoft also fixed “important” vulnerabilities in Office, the client/server runtime system and the Windows kernel that could allow a malicious user to gain additional privileges.

Microsoft also took the opportunity to release a new version of the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool, presumably equipped to do battle with Duqu. The worm was officially discovered on September 1 by researchers at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. Despite the Star Wars-esque sounding name, the Budapest researchers named the worm based on files the malware creates, which are prefixed with the characters “-DQ.”

Despite extensive research, Duqu’s purpose isn’t known. The worm bears a strong resemblance to Stuxnet, and was originally mistaken for Stuxnet by some Internet security firms. Like Stuxnet, Duqu makes use of stolen signed security certificates and also appears to uninstall itself after 36 days of active infection. Attacking servers have been found in Germany, Belgium and China, but security experts are still unsure of Duqu’s intended targets.

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Will Windows 8 Still Suffer From Driver Issues?

Driver Development Isn’t Controlled By Microsoft

Unfortunately, Microsoft still faces the same challenges regarding drivers for third-party hardware it faced for all other releases of Windows. Another not-so-fortunate fact is that Windows 8 is substantially different from Windows 7/Vista. The hardware manufacturers are going to have to come through in order to ensure that Windows 8 is a commercial success.

One of the big differences this time around is that consumers actually want Windows 8. Windows 8 is designed to provide big-time support to the mobile computing devices users simply can’t seem to get enough of. That will serve as a good motivator for some third-party manufacturers to get their drivers out the door and in good working order on Launch Day – whenever that might be.

Don’t get me wrong. Windows 8 isn’t meant exclusively for mobile devices. There will still be reasons (and hopefully good ones) to update non-mobile computers to the newest OS, too. Mobile device manufacturers will be ready out of the gate. The question still remains for the non-mobile device manufacturers – do they plan to come to the party?

Windows 8 represents a very different shift from Windows 7, so initially, users can expect some delays in getting device drivers for their current devices. They can also expect some manufacturers to drop support for even relatively new devices, as they did when Vista first hit store shelves. The standard issues with device compatibility will arise, and a large number of users – particularly at the enterprise level – will wait until the first service pack or better to migrate to Windows 8.

The “first service pack” benchmark is telltale. Those third party manufacturers who have updated drivers by that point are in the game, and those who haven’t produced working drivers for their existing hardware probably won’t. For those users who have just upgraded to Windows 7, the prospect of going on more device driver hunts probably isn’t too exciting.

Nonetheless, Windows 8 is rumored for a late-2012 release. With review copies already on the street, the pressure is officially on third-party manufacturers to build drivers that are ready for business on Opening Day.

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Upcoming Intel Driver Release Will Add Trim Support

Not The First Time Trim Support Has Been Announced

Keep in mind that this isn’t an official announcement for Trim support, and also keep in mind that we were led to believe that Trim support would be introduced in 2009. With that having been said, getting real Trim support could make life a lot less complicated for users who rely on RAID 0 storage schemes for data.

Home users aren’t likely to be impacted at all by the addition of Trim support, but enterprise users will welcome the ability to include SSD in RAID storage arrays. SSDs offer some big advantages over their traditional counterparts in terms of space, cost and reliability, but not being able to make efficient use of space has been a serious downer.

The changes, according to Intel, will be released in the 11.5 version of Intel’s Alpha Rapid Storage Technology (RST) driver. The next release is version 11.0, so Trim support is still on the horizon. The ability to support RAID 0 is the first step toward extending support to RAID 1 and RAID 5 setups.
Windows 7 already supports Trim for SSDs, but that support doesn’t extend to RAID arrays. In other words, Trim works on single SSDs in Windows 7, but not in storage arrays. Intel hasn’t provided a timetable for the release of its version 11.5 RST drivers, but the support will be welcome whenever it comes.

Currently, without Trim support, the performance of SSD arrays over time seriously degrades as storage disks become filled with data. Without the ability to identify disk blocks that can be wiped and re-used, the user effectively has no way to defragment an SSD RAID array. Any user who has worked on a badly fragmented drive will immediately understand the implications of that!

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Microsoft Won't Be Distributing Third-Party Updates In Windows 8

Change Means That Third-Parties Are On Their Own For Distributions

This doesn’t change things for Windows driver updates, however, not all third-party manufacturers update their drivers through the Windows Update feature. The change in policy for Windows 8 means that users will have to remain on duty when it comes to keeping their Windows applications up-to-date.

In terms of device drivers, the status quo doesn’t guarantee that users have the latest device drivers, and that’s going to continue in Windows 8. Right now, the experience of updating device drivers is a mixed bag. With some third parties participating in Windows Update and others doing their own thing, users need to keep track of what’s being updated regularly and what isn’t.

For busy users, or for those who are not technically savvy, a better approach to driver maintenance is using a driver management utility like Driver Detective. Driver Detective determines – based on your computer system – what driver updates you need and downloads them right to your computer. The updates are installed and a backup copy of the current driver is stored locally, in case something happens to the active copy. You can also roll back to an older version of the driver if a new driver update doesn’t behave the way you think it should.

You don’t have to remember to check for updates. Driver Detective does that for you. You also don’t have to keep track of a lot of hardware configuration information, because Driver Detective does that, too! This is ideal for manufactures that use multiple third party component options within a single model. Driver Detective determines what your system needs – not based on the model number of your computer – but based on the components actually installed in your system. If you update a video card, add a different mouse, or attach a new peripheral device, Driver Detective can track and maintain those devices, too.

Driver Detective is one of the best driver management utilities available today. Millions of users have already downloaded it and rely on it to keep their computer systems up to date. Download your copy today and say goodbye to outdated device driver problems!

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How Your Windows Device Drivers Affect Battery Performance

Laptops Are Meant To Use Low Power

Laptops are meant to use low power, and that sometimes means making adjustments to the way devices consume power. When you do a driver install and you just do the default configuration, (as most users do – because it’s the “safest” installation, right?) most often, you’re guaranteeing that your battery life will be short. Why? In the absence of any other configuration, the default firmware initialization for most devices calls for the highest available power. If all of your laptop devices use high power, your battery life will definitely suffer. Select devices in high power mode can reduce your battery life by as much as 25%!

The default configuration can’t possibly take into account what your actual power usage needs are, so it assumes the worst and makes as much power as possible available to a device. On a desktop computer, power management is generally not a consideration. On a laptop, where the manufacturers have already made compromises on the chipsets, the maximum memory capacity and the processor speed, these concessions must extend through to your devices as well.

If you’re not in a situation where you need your wireless mouse, or your network card, you can manage the power consumption of these devices much more effectively, and ensure that you have enough battery life to get your work done.

Doing power management via the device driver also means having the most recent device driver loaded. Manufacturers often tweak their driver-level power management capabilities, and the only way to take advantage of this is to make sure you have the most recent device driver for your computer.

With Windows, you can’t always be certain that Microsoft will pass through device driver updates to you. That has nothing to do with Microsoft; some third-party developers don’t give their driver updates to Microsoft. For those devices, it’s up to you to go out and get the latest driver updates – or at least check regularly for them.

That’s why I recommend Driver Detective. Driver Detective takes the guesswork out of device driver maintenance. It’s highly reliable and helps to ensure that you’ll always have the drivers your computer needs.

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