5 ms·

"...if more than one driver provides a perfect match, then the one with the most recent timestamp is chosen. If there is still a tie, then the one with the high

"...if more than one driver provides a perfect match, then the one with the most recent timestamp is chosen. If there is still a tie, then the one with the highest file version number is chosen." So check the manufacturer of the driver, and if it's Microsoft then assign the lowest priority. Am I missing something here?

leereeves 10y ago
Microsoft might be the manufacturer of the hardware, and perhaps in that case they still don't want drivers built and distributed with Windows to override drivers installed separately?
- manmal 10y ago
  Why not, since they are more recent?
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - Someone1234 10y ago
    But different. The drivers provided with the OS are generic. The drivers you can download are bespoke and offer additional features. A perfect example is Microsoft's webcams. The built in driver will run the webcam fine. The downloaded driver adds "fun" overlays, filters, and software to control it. So that's why not. Users won't want their webcam driver being downgraded every time a Windows Update is installed in the background. Even for Microsoft hardware.
    - jorblumesea 10y ago
      This is especially true for things like graphics cards, where the drivers are so highly custom you wouldn't want generics in the first place.
    - chrismeller 10y ago
      Except, presumably, the vendor-provided driver is a match specifically for the hardware ID, which would already put it as the #1 match and no one would ever care about the timestamp. It does seem to me that, at least somewhere along the line, we'd probably prefer the generic Windows driver from 2017 over the specific vendor driver from late 2006, though...
fpgaminer 10y ago
Microsoft, as a company, has issues with inter-team communication. So I'm guessing the bug of Windows drivers taking priority was discovered by the build team, and rather than talk to the relevant team about the problem, they decided to just fix it themselves with this hack. The adage "If it's stupid but it works, it isn't stupid" may apply here... or this may be the perfect counterexample. EDIT: It's also possible that this is the "simpler" solution. The behavior of the driver selector probably went through a litany of testing before this problem was discovered. Changing the driver ranking algorithm is a major modification that would warrant another litany of testing. Given budgets and deadlines, I can see someone implementing this hack as a clever way to avoid re-testing a major component. Technical debt is common for the same reasons monetary debt is common.
- jaclaz 10y ago
  >Technical debt is common for the same reasons monetary debt is common. Basically people lacking the knowledge or proper capabilities in managing the whatever they are supposed to manage? ;)
  - concerned_user 10y ago
    Simply put technical debt is a measure of how much it will cost you to modify your software while maintaining acceptable level of quality. Since with every change codebase gets bigger your debt increases. You can't just "manage" it away.
- tbrownaw 10y ago
  If it's stupid but it works, it isn't stupid If it's stupid but it works, it's still stupid and you just got lucky.
wvenable 10y ago
This method gives them the flexibility to selectively override manufacturer drivers until the manufacturer releases a new driver.
Someone1234 10y ago
Microsoft is a hardware manufacturer. They also produce custom drives for that hardware (e.g. webcams). If they follow your plan then both the OS driver and the custom driver have the same priority and newer versions of the OS may disable Microsoft's bespoke hardware drivers.
- dragonwriter 10y ago
  Microsoft could set up a separate identity and signing key for the OS drivers vs. Microsoft hardware-division drivers.
justin66 10y ago
Many, many times people would be better off letting Microsoft replace the manufacturer's crappy drivers with something newer, or just ignoring the manufacturer's drivers completely from the time of installation. This is often the case with motherboards that do not ever receive driver updates to accommodate new Windows versions, or are otherwise abandoned by the manufacturer after a year or two.

leereeves 10y ago

Microsoft might be the manufacturer of the hardware, and perhaps in that case they still don't want drivers built and distributed with Windows to override drivers installed separately?

manmal 10y ago
Why not, since they are more recent?
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- Someone1234 10y ago
  But different. The drivers provided with the OS are generic. The drivers you can download are bespoke and offer additional features. A perfect example is Microsoft's webcams. The built in driver will run the webcam fine. The downloaded driver adds "fun" overlays, filters, and software to control it. So that's why not. Users won't want their webcam driver being downgraded every time a Windows Update is installed in the background. Even for Microsoft hardware.
  - jorblumesea 10y ago
    This is especially true for things like graphics cards, where the drivers are so highly custom you wouldn't want generics in the first place.
  - chrismeller 10y ago
    Except, presumably, the vendor-provided driver is a match specifically for the hardware ID, which would already put it as the #1 match and no one would ever care about the timestamp. It does seem to me that, at least somewhere along the line, we'd probably prefer the generic Windows driver from 2017 over the specific vendor driver from late 2006, though...

fpgaminer 10y ago

Microsoft, as a company, has issues with inter-team communication. So I'm guessing the bug of Windows drivers taking priority was discovered by the build team, and rather than talk to the relevant team about the problem, they decided to just fix it themselves with this hack. The adage "If it's stupid but it works, it isn't stupid" may apply here... or this may be the perfect counterexample. EDIT: It's also possible that this is the "simpler" solution. The behavior of the driver selector probably went through a litany of testing before this problem was discovered. Changing the driver ranking algorithm is a major modification that would warrant another litany of testing. Given budgets and deadlines, I can see someone implementing this hack as a clever way to avoid re-testing a major component. Technical debt is common for the same reasons monetary debt is common.

jaclaz 10y ago
>Technical debt is common for the same reasons monetary debt is common. Basically people lacking the knowledge or proper capabilities in managing the whatever they are supposed to manage? ;)
- concerned_user 10y ago
  Simply put technical debt is a measure of how much it will cost you to modify your software while maintaining acceptable level of quality. Since with every change codebase gets bigger your debt increases. You can't just "manage" it away.
tbrownaw 10y ago
If it's stupid but it works, it isn't stupid If it's stupid but it works, it's still stupid and you just got lucky.

wvenable 10y ago

This method gives them the flexibility to selectively override manufacturer drivers until the manufacturer releases a new driver.

Someone1234 10y ago

Microsoft is a hardware manufacturer. They also produce custom drives for that hardware (e.g. webcams). If they follow your plan then both the OS driver and the custom driver have the same priority and newer versions of the OS may disable Microsoft's bespoke hardware drivers.

dragonwriter 10y ago
Microsoft could set up a separate identity and signing key for the OS drivers vs. Microsoft hardware-division drivers.

justin66 10y ago

Many, many times people would be better off letting Microsoft replace the manufacturer's crappy drivers with something newer, or just ignoring the manufacturer's drivers completely from the time of installation. This is often the case with motherboards that do not ever receive driver updates to accommodate new Windows versions, or are otherwise abandoned by the manufacturer after a year or two.