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But why don't they just keep the drivers etc. from the previous version? This doesn't seem to be a problem for Linux.

Laforet 5y ago
Linux would also require drivers to be recompiled for a new kernel. This is not an option for most proprietary drivers for products long abandoned by the manufacturer. For the more common and popular hardware there is a good chance that open source drivers can be maintained by the community but if your laptop relies on a somewhat obscure chipset or microcontroller then your mileage will vary...a lot. Look up "Intel GMA500 Linux driver" if you need an example of the pain. Sometimes the decision could be entirely commercial. Most notably, OSX dropped support for all nVidia GPUs from Mojave onwards despite nVidia going on record saying they are happy to continue providing drivers but Apple won't sign them.
- my123 5y ago
  > Most notably, OSX dropped support for all nVidia GPUs from Mojave onwards Not those shipped with Macs. The GeForce kexts to support the NVIDIA GPU gens that Apple shipped, Fermi and Kepler, are still present even on Monterey.
  - Laforet 5y ago
    Apparently they will not be in the stable release of Monterey though it is still possible to patch the drivers in. https://github.com/chris1111/Geforce-Kepler-patcher https://github.com/chris1111/Geforce-Kepler-patcher Fermi was never supported beyond High Sierra IIRC.
    - my123 5y ago
      Hm, your own link shows that NVDAGF100Hal.kext is present though, so something for Fermi is _probably_ possible. TIL that support for NV cards on Monterey is gone, it definitely was there in the betas.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
kitsunesoba 5y ago
macOS sees quite a lot of change under the hood from release to release that can make bringing unmodified drivers forward impractical. For example, in recent releases there’s been a push to move drivers away from the kernel and into userspace, which is naturally going to break old drivers. 32-bit support was also dropped not too long ago, which broke old 32-bit drivers.

Linux would also require drivers to be recompiled for a new kernel. This is not an option for most proprietary drivers for products long abandoned by the manufacturer. For the more common and popular hardware there is a good chance that open source drivers can be maintained by the community but if your laptop relies on a somewhat obscure chipset or microcontroller then your mileage will vary...a lot. Look up "Intel GMA500 Linux driver" if you need an example of the pain. Sometimes the decision could be entirely commercial. Most notably, OSX dropped support for all nVidia GPUs from Mojave onwards despite nVidia going on record saying they are happy to continue providing drivers but Apple won't sign them.

my123 5y ago
> Most notably, OSX dropped support for all nVidia GPUs from Mojave onwards Not those shipped with Macs. The GeForce kexts to support the NVIDIA GPU gens that Apple shipped, Fermi and Kepler, are still present even on Monterey.
- Laforet 5y ago
  Apparently they will not be in the stable release of Monterey though it is still possible to patch the drivers in. https://github.com/chris1111/Geforce-Kepler-patcher https://github.com/chris1111/Geforce-Kepler-patcher Fermi was never supported beyond High Sierra IIRC.
  - my123 5y ago
    Hm, your own link shows that NVDAGF100Hal.kext is present though, so something for Fermi is _probably_ possible. TIL that support for NV cards on Monterey is gone, it definitely was there in the betas.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

kitsunesoba 5y ago

macOS sees quite a lot of change under the hood from release to release that can make bringing unmodified drivers forward impractical. For example, in recent releases there’s been a push to move drivers away from the kernel and into userspace, which is naturally going to break old drivers. 32-bit support was also dropped not too long ago, which broke old 32-bit drivers.