UNSOLVED
S
Shane_Pitman
4 Posts
0
8226
November 26th, 2006 16:00
Release drivers already
Other systems manufacturers are already posting their drivers. It's time to get with the program guys, and please, spare me all the "better to be sure the bugs are all out" replies. Vista has been in development longer than it took to build the Golden Gate bridge. Vista RTM'd at the beginning of the month, give us the drivers and updated software (Dell Quickset, etc..) already.
- I must echo Shane's point here. Dell - you do a good job in many ways, but what would be wrong with giving out the drivers as they are now, even if they weren't 100% working / tested. I'm sure no sensible people would object if you put a clear warning in place indicating the status - then we can all be informed about what we're getting into (and yes we will take responsibility for it if things go wrong - this is still a pre-release system!) Even if MS wants you to pull the non-finalised drivers from your site once Vista goes on sale (which they might, since it could dent the reliability image if an inexperienced user downloaded them and didn't think about the consequences) we'd still have had a better chance that we do currently.James - I realise you're trying to help and it is appreciated, but your answer does seem a little like deflection. It's pretty clear we'd like all of them or all those that are at least working to a fair degree. As long as we can make informed decisions (i.e. useful details about the driver status are provided) I think we'll all be happy.However, if there is somewhere to start, I suppose putting the Bluetooth drivers for the Dell 350 wireless cards for laptops would be great! Bluetooth is a hassle at the best of times and the opaque way the WinXP driver fails to work on Vista is a little frustrating! Other than that, most of the drivers seem to work fine, but there were any newer drivers for the ATI X300 Mobility graphics cards which boosted performance beyond the standard MS ones, that would be a good second choice....
NMStoker wrote:
James - I realise you're trying to help and it is appreciated, but your answer does seem a little like deflection. It's pretty clear we'd like all of them or all those that are at least working to a fair degree. As long as we can make informed decisions (i.e. useful details about the driver status are provided) I think we'll all be happy.
I asked about which device drivers in particular because I had no real need for any on my Inspiron 6400 when I clean installed Vista. If this is a desktop PC we are referring to (or an 'older' model), I can see how more drivers would be required.I personally like to keep my system right up to date, so I understand the urgency to get drivers out ASAP, even if they are beta drivers. As long as the user is fairly warned, I don't have a problem with that. :smileywink:- At the very least some legitimate Nvida GO video drivers would be nice. The Microsoft ones are kinda slow and no control panel etc. The 'hacked' ones from laptopvideo2go have to many other issues (game glitches and/or external monitor support issues).Everything else in my system works fine with Vista built in drivers now. (except the Creative HD software for the upgraded sound support)
- Some companies, like ATi and NVidia were onboard from the early days of Vista (Longhorn). Others seem to want to sit back and wait until the RTM was released before they started developing. Perhaps this was purely an economic decision for some smaller companies. I know of a few companies that were awaiting the release of RTM before they beta-tested new versions of their software.I was surprised that Vista had drivers for my Brother multifunction printer, but it's fairly new on the market, so I guess it incorporated XP drivers, not sure. Works great though.
- I don't think the delay is unique to Dell. Try and locate some Epson drivers for your printer.Obviously something is different about the way Microsoft rolled this OS out. (Though I realize that it's only "rolled out" to some of us with TechNet or MSDN subscriptions.) When XP was released I seem to recall it including drivers for pretty much everything right out of the gate. Now with Vista you can't even get drivers for mainstream printers. Got an integrated SoundMAX sound card? Too bad. I don't really get it. Did Microsoft hold all the technical info back that would allow these companies to have drivers ready at RTM?
- The reason that there is a two month gap between the "release" of Vista to business users in late November and the public release in late January of next year is to allow the 3rd parties to create drivers. Too many people were burned with late minute changes in XP from the RC to the RTM. I think Microsoft is doing a service by going RTM and delaying two months to allow people to get it right.
I am using Vista RTM on a PC. I got the RTM from MSDN, since it's not officially released yet even to the business users. I need to use a beta Creative sound driver and a beta ATI video driver. So even the largest vendors aren't ready yet with final releases.
I am sure Dell will have everything in place by the late January release. Since Vista is not released yet, not even to business users, no one is under any obligation to have finalized drivers ready. It's only been a week and a half ... let's give them some time to get it right. We'll have Vista around for years. A month or so more won't bother me. Jeff Flowerday
18 Posts
605
0
Posted November 27th, 2006 14:00
Since someone asked which ones:How about some Ricoh drivers for the M1710 and 9300. Mouse drivers for the same laptops. Keyboard drivers. Video drivers for the 7950GTX go.
jmfmvps
517 Posts
605
0
Posted November 26th, 2006 16:00