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Windows hardware + driver compatibility is a nightmare fueled by proprietary duct-taped one-off drivers supporting only one or two devices each. One of the rea

Windows hardware + driver compatibility is a nightmare fueled by proprietary duct-taped one-off drivers supporting only one or two devices each. One of the reasons for this is that you can get away with anything on Windows, because everything is proprietary. There are headsets targeting Windows users that require kernel-mode drivers to work. Which, of course, is super fragile and will break at some point, rendering your expensive headset useless.

matheusmoreira 7y ago
> There are headsets targeting Windows users that require kernel-mode drivers to work. That's horrifying. What headsets are these? Gaming headsets? I wouldn't trust that industry with kernel mode access to my compurer.
- arghwhat 7y ago
  It is indeed horrifying, and the particular products I'm thinking of are indeed from a series of gaming headsets. There are other categories of headsets, speakerphones and the likes that are equally awful, though, which is why I see the problem as universal to products targeting Windows: There is no scrutiny to stop this idiocy, and the average consumer has no idea why this is bad, and no idea that those blue screens were because of a headset. Having a connection to said company, I'd rather not name them though.
  - matheusmoreira 7y ago
    > There is no scrutiny to stop this idiocy, and the average consumer has no idea why this is bad, and no idea that those blue screens were because of a headset. Yeah. Microsoft doesn't exercise any control and the result is hardware manufacturers force bogus software down the throats of Windows users. The Linux community can count on Linus Torvalds and the kernel hackers to provide that scrutiny and people trust Linux a lot more as a result. I always cite capcom.sys as an example of why random companies shouldn't be allowed to write drivers: https://twitter.com/TheWack0lian/status/779397840762245124/ https://twitter.com/TheWack0lian/status/779397840762245124/
AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago
Wait, kernel-mode? Really? I was under the impression that sound hardware was all user-mode since Vista.
- arghwhat 7y ago
  It is, right until you want to emulate an audio device that vastly differs from what you have (say, presenting a headset as a surround sound device and do in-driver signal processing).

matheusmoreira 7y ago

> There are headsets targeting Windows users that require kernel-mode drivers to work. That's horrifying. What headsets are these? Gaming headsets? I wouldn't trust that industry with kernel mode access to my compurer.

arghwhat 7y ago
It is indeed horrifying, and the particular products I'm thinking of are indeed from a series of gaming headsets. There are other categories of headsets, speakerphones and the likes that are equally awful, though, which is why I see the problem as universal to products targeting Windows: There is no scrutiny to stop this idiocy, and the average consumer has no idea why this is bad, and no idea that those blue screens were because of a headset. Having a connection to said company, I'd rather not name them though.
- matheusmoreira 7y ago
  > There is no scrutiny to stop this idiocy, and the average consumer has no idea why this is bad, and no idea that those blue screens were because of a headset. Yeah. Microsoft doesn't exercise any control and the result is hardware manufacturers force bogus software down the throats of Windows users. The Linux community can count on Linus Torvalds and the kernel hackers to provide that scrutiny and people trust Linux a lot more as a result. I always cite capcom.sys as an example of why random companies shouldn't be allowed to write drivers: https://twitter.com/TheWack0lian/status/779397840762245124/ https://twitter.com/TheWack0lian/status/779397840762245124/

AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago

Wait, kernel-mode? Really? I was under the impression that sound hardware was all user-mode since Vista.

arghwhat 7y ago
It is, right until you want to emulate an audio device that vastly differs from what you have (say, presenting a headset as a surround sound device and do in-driver signal processing).