d3bruts1d Posted July 26, 2002 Posted July 26, 2002 Microsoft Halts Driver Support For Windows 98 July 25, 2002 Microsoft Corp. has halted hardware driver support for users of Windows 98 and Windows NT in a bid to push users to the company's new operating systems. The push also means that the latest hardware will not support PCs with operating systems as "old" as Windows 98. ATI's recent Radeon 9000 and 9700 series of cards, for example, will not support Windows 98 through Microsoft, although ATI said those operating systems will still be supported through the Windows Me OS. On its web site, Microsoft explains that "Beginning 01 July 2002, at 12:01 A.M. PST, WHQL will no longer accept submissions for all hardware devices and systems for the following operating systems. This includes all submission types for all devices and systems: Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition (SE); Windows NT 4.0 Workstation; (and) Windows NT 4.0 Server." "WHQL" stands for Windows Hardware Quality Laboratories, Microsoft's official certification that a particular piece of hardware and its driver is approved to run on a specific Microsoft operating system. "As a reminder, WHQL previously stopped accepting submissions for Windows 98 Gold in the latter part of 1999," Microsoft's web site states. That means that purchasers of Radeon 9000 cards won't have a dedicated driver; however, ATI said users shouldn't worry. "Since the RADEON 9700 and RADEON 9000 series of cards from ATI were released after the July 1st date, there was no way to obtain certification for these drivers," according to a statement released by ATI on Thursday. "Microsoft certification of drivers is the most significant 3rd party qualification of a devices stability and quality. ATI's [unified] CATALYST drivers are based on the foundation of stability and quality and as such every driver that ATI makes available must go through Microsoft certification. "Although Microsoft no longer certifies devices under those operating systems, ATI still supports them," the statement continued. "Users of Windows 98 and Windows 98 (SE) just simply need to use the WHQL certified Windows ME driver provided both on our shipping CD's and on our website. ATI also has an NT4 driver available for the RADEON 9000 and RADEON 9000 Pro which will be made available shortly. Furthermore users of those operating systems are still supported by ATI's customer care program and can still obtain technical support." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psywar Posted July 26, 2002 Posted July 26, 2002 God dang.. thats BS Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
d3bruts1d Posted July 26, 2002 Posted July 26, 2002 no... That's MS. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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