| Test Your Drivers on New Versions of KMDF and UMDF
The latest release of the Windows Driver Foundation (WDF) comprises the Kernel-Mode Driver Framework (KMDF) 1.9 and the User-Mode Driver Framework (UMDF) 1.9. As usual, this release includes redistributable packages for earlier versions of the Windows operating system (OS). These packages are shipped in the Windows Driver Kit (WDK) Release Candidate (RC). For KMDF, earlier versions of Windows are supported back to Windows 2000; for UMDF, back to Windows XP SP2. You can now begin testing your drivers with the latest WDF frameworks on Windows 7 RC and on previous versions of Windows by using the redistributable packages from the WDK RC. Please let us know if you find any compatibility issues in the new version 1.9. As always, you can reach us at wdfinfo@microsoft.com ( mailto:wdfinfo@microsoft.com). Remember that the WDF frameworks are updated when a new driver is installed on the OS, and your driver will link to the new version of the frameworks. Even though Microsoft does a lot of testing on the new frameworks to ensure compatibility from version to version, we cannot test your code in your scenarios, so it is important that you test your own drivers on the new frameworks. Following are some hints for testing: - Install your existing driver package on Windows 7 RC and test the common scenarios. Windows 7 has both KMDF 1.9 and UMDF 1.9 as the native framework versions. - Update your INF file to use the new version 1.9 redistributables from the WDK and install those redistributables on the earlier versions of Windows that your driver supports. Make sure the installation of your driver works and the new framework is present and active. - For testing purposes, rebuild your driver with the Windows 7 WDK and test it with the driver verifier turned on. The driver verifier now makes additional checks for framework drivers, which will help ensure compatibility and stability. - Install your drivers with the previous version of the WDF frameworks and then test an upgrade to Windows 7. Note to UMDF developers: When testing, remember to use the Windows 7 RC version of the WinUSB 1.9 co-installer, named WinUsbCoinstaller2.dll. This new version is included in the RC release of the WDK and contains fixes to both the co-installer and the underlying WinUSB code. You will need it to fully test UMDF drivers against UMDF 1.9 on previous releases of Windows. For information about how to get the RC release of the WDK and to read the WDK RC release notes, visit the WDK area of the Windows Hardware Developer Central (WHDC) Web site ( http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/DevTools/WDK/WDKpkg.mspx and http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/wdk/RelNotesW7_RC.mspx).
News for Windows Hardware and Driver Developers
Online Tutorial for UMDF Debugging New training material for debugging drivers that are written using the User-Mode Driver Framework (UMDF) is now available on the WHDC Web site ( http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/debugging/umdftraining.mspx). This online course includes training in the following areas: - Introduction to the terminology of debugging - Basics of debugging routines for UMDF drivers - Exploring the UMDF debugger extension - How to install a UMDF driver built from the WDK samples - How to connect WinDbg to a running driver - Using debugging techniques that the UMDF developers use The training comprises four self-paced modules and is presented by Abishek Ram, an experienced member of the Microsoft UMDF development team. Hardware Design for Windows 7 This recently added Web page on WHDC collects in one location the current technical information about Window 7 for hardware engineers and driver developers that is available on WHDC. This page is continually updated as new technical papers and resources become available, so check back often: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/hwdesign/HWdesign_Win7.mspx. Enhancing the Television Experience by Using Windows SideShow The Windows SideShow platform provides hardware and software developers unique opportunities to create compelling solutions for television viewers. This paper provides information for hardware manufacturers that are interested in adding the SideShow platform to TV sets, universal remote controls, and set-top boxes, and software developers that are interested in creating SideShow gadgets for TV scenarios. This information applies to Windows Server 2008 (with Desktop Experience installed), Windows Vista (Home Premium, Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate), and Windows 7 ( http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/sideshow/TVExperience.mspx). Compelling Solutions for PC Gamers by Using Windows SideShow This paper provides information about opportunities for hardware and software developers to respond to the growing demands of PC gamers by using the Windows SideShow platform. The paper provides ideas for hardware and software solutions for gamers. This information applies to Windows Server 2008 (with Desktop Experience installed), Windows Vista (Home Premium, Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate), and Windows 7 ( http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/sideshow/Gaming_Solutions.mspx).
What's New in Blogs for Hardware and Driver Developers
"Support and Q&A for Solid-State Drives" by Michael Fortin in the "E7" Blog There's a lot of excitement around the potential for the widespread adoption of solid-state drives (SSD) for primary storage, particularly on laptops and also among many folks in the server world. As with any new technology, as it is introduced we often need to revisit the assumptions baked into the overall system (OS, device support, applications) as a result of the performance characteristics of the technologies in use. This post looks at the way we have tuned Windows 7 to the current generation of SSDs. This is a rapidly moving area and we expect that there will continue to be ways we will tune Windows and we also expect the technology to continue to evolve, perhaps introducing new tradeoffs or challenging other underlying assumptions. Michael Fortin authored this post with help from many folks across the storage and fundamentals teams. --Steven http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/archive/2009/05/05/support-and-q-a-for-solid-state-drives-and.aspx
Windows Logo Program Tools and News
WLK 1.4 Released As announced in the previous edition of this newsletter, the RTM version of the Windows Logo Kit (WLK) 1.4 is available for download via Microsoft Connect at https://connect.microsoft.com/site/sitehome.aspx?SiteID=668. This release of the WLK adds support for obtaining logos for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, in addition to supporting earlier operating systems. We encourage all Microsoft partners to use WLK 1.4 to start running these tests against your devices and systems in order to qualify for these logos. Some of the highlights of WLK 1.4 are: - Improved kit quality - Improved documentation - 49 new logo categories added to the kit since WLK 1.2 If you have not yet registered on Microsoft Connect or need more information about downloading the WLK, see How to Get the Windows Logo Kit at https://www.microsoft.com/whdc/winlogo/wlk/WLKpkg.mspx.
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