Legit Reviews

This occurred to me while I was working on that Dell desktop that was hosed up with Babylon. I thought it unusual that I didn't have to download any drivers for Windows 7 given the fact that the machine is a Dell. It's been a while, but in my experience when you install a "straight" copy of an OS on a name brand computer, you usually have do download proprietary drivers from the manufacturer for the network adapter, sound & video cards, etc., etc..

Has Windows progressed to the point that their default drivers for these devices are good enough that you don't have to search hither and yon to gather them? And, if I should install a fresh copy of 7 Ultimate on my 2 year-old HP laptop, can I expect similar compatibility? I imagine I'll have to download at least a few drivers because it is, after all, a laptop.

Like I said, just wondering.

Thanks!
J

Yea, for the most part it is that way. Most drivers have to be signed and certified, so MS inserts lots of drivers into the OS automatically. Plus what I've found working with prebuilts at work is that while you can use the manufacturer's drivers (Dell, HP, Lenovo), you can also use the base hardware drivers. It really matters what it is. The problem we have is when it comes to hardware built after the OS was built, then you have to insert the drivers.

Also, some really old hardware it might not work because it could be before the whql certification and needs some specific signed drivers.

It's also down to the fact that there's less components. A few years ago you had Via, SIS, Nvidia, ATI & Intel chip sets.
The same for sound cards and NIC's

I've found that you get 90% + of drivers with the initial install and only have to run Windows update to get drivers for the obscure HW.

even Linux & the BSD variants have great hardware support out of the box.

That's kinda what I figured. Makes the job so much easier.

Thanks for the info!!

It sure has gone a long way, to a point I am now mildly annoyed when I need to get a PC working with a fresh XP installation as compared to 7.