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This newsletter contains archived content. No warranty is made as to technical accuracy of content or currency of URLs.
Unless you've been in a cave since 1963 (see 'After Dark' below), you know that a crucial hardware element supporting the Windows Vista desktop experience is the combination of graphics processor and its Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) driver. This combo doubles the impact of recent GPU advances--"Moore's Law Cubed"--to deliver reliable, multimedia-rich experiences in video editing, special-effects software, PC gaming, high-definition playback, and high-end computer-aided graphics applications.
Further, the amount of available graphics memory is what Windows Vista uses to determine what capabilities to enable in the system. Because of this need to manage system performance, graphics memory reporting has been enhanced in Windows Vista. In earlier versions of Windows, graphics memory was reported by the graphics driver as a single number through the Display application in Control Panel or reported to applications through some (mostly inaccurate) legacy application programming interfaces (APIs).
In Windows Vista, the WDDM driver manages the virtualization of graphics memory for itself and also ensures accurate reporting of various aspects of graphics memory. This means that end users can better understand the factors that directly impact the performance of their PC system. Software developers can take advantage of a new DirectX 10 API in their applications to retrieve an accurate set of graphics memory values.
The Windows Graphics Platform team has published a new paper on the WHDC Web site-- Graphics Memory Reporting through WDDM--that explains the various types of graphics memory in relationship to discrete (or "add on") and integrated graphics adapters, and how memory is allocated. This paper also provides guidelines for how software products can take advantage of the new graphics memory reporting mechanism in Windows Vista.
And if you're new to WDDM concepts, check out the background article about this new display driver architecture on MSDN, Windows Vista Display Driver Model.
- Annie Pearson
for the WHDC Web team
WHDC After Dark:
Hardware Design for Windows Vista
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A new paper from the Mobile PC team provides general guidance for hardware vendors and developers for implementing drivers for a pen or touch digitizer on a computer running Windows Vista.
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System manufacturers, driver developers, and application developers can obtain the latest tools for measuring system resume performance, including tools for inspecting individual driver and application delays, through the Windows Vista Resume Performance program on Microsoft Connect. To enroll, go to http://connect.microsoft.com, sign in using your .NET Passport credentials, click the Invitations link on the left menu, and type WVRP-MBCF-YF4P in the Invitation ID box. For questions about this program, send mail to onnow@microsoft.com. See also Measuring System Resume Performance on Windows Vista.
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Hardware Design for Windows Server
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Microsoft has revised the document that defines requirements for server systems that run the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition operating system and that are listed on the Windows Server Catalog. The focus in this revision is exclusively on the hardware and test requirements for server systems to be part of the Datacenter High Availability Program.
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NAP is a policy enforcement platform built into Windows Vista and Windows Server code name "Longhorn" to allow administrators to better protect network assets by enforcing compliance with system health requirements. NAP includes an API set for developers and vendors to create complete solutions for health policy validation, network access limitation, and ongoing health compliance.
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Going Deep with Windows Experts
Nar's engineering team wrote the Windows I/O system, the new Windows Driver Foundation (WDF), and related technologies. Watch this tour to learn more details than you can learn anywhere else. See also Win32 I/O Cancellation Support in Windows Vista
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Reading data from mechanical hard disks is an expensive operation because the mechanical process involves a large number of seeks to gather data into a useful (contiguous) form. Channel 9 on MSDN presents Ruston Panabaker discussing the support in Windows Vista for hybrid hard drives.
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Tips for Driver Developers
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Ilias is working to introduce developers to the world of Windows device drivers--focusing on foundation concepts. In his first entry, Ilias says, "The reason that I've picked this title for my blog is to indicate the difficulty of driver development. Although 'bus driving' and 'driver writing' share one common word, they have nothing else in common, even metaphorically speaking. A bus driver needs to follow a path, i.e. the road, in order to reach his destination. His way is predetermined from the beginning to the end. On the other hand, a driver writer, especially a beginner, has no strict guidelines to follow."
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Check out Doron Holan's tips on the commands and files to use with the KMDF log for problem-solving in your KMDF driver.
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Windows Logo Program and WHQL News
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This paper provides a beginning-to-end walkthrough of how to digitally sign kernel-mode software for x64 versions of Windows Vista. Kernel-mode software must be digitally signed to be loaded on x64-based versions of Microsoft Windows Vista and later versions of Windows operating systems. A revised version of this paper has been updated for Windows Vista Release Candidate 1 (RC1) and release-to-manufacturing (RTM), and supersedes the original document based on Windows Vista Beta2.
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Edition for  October 17, 2006 |
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Windows Vista - Driver Developer Kits, Tools, and Programs
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Hardware and Driver Developer Community
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This newsletter is composed and formatted on PCs running the Windows Vista operating system.
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