[German]Microsoft has announced a new Windows driver evaluation policy for manufacturers who deliver Windows drivers for their hardware via Windows Update.
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The 'Only a few systems are affected' syndrome
Poorly working drivers are a nuisance for Windows 10 users (and ultimately Microsoft). Although it is often said: Only few devices or users are affected when there are problems with a driver – possibly after a function update. But this is of little use to those affected.
Microsoft wants to change this and improve the quality assurance for drivers that are delivered via Windows Update. In this Techcommunity article, Microsoft has announced its ideas about the new measures that will apply to Windows drivers from hardware manufacturers from July 15, 2020.
Telemetry data acquisition in kohorts/clusters
A driver can be developed by the manufacturer to support multiple systems and devices. According to Microsoft, it is therefore no longer sufficient to evaluate the quality of a driver by aggregating its stability across all its target devices.
In order to ensure the stability of drivers and to be able to monitor them better, Microsoft will map the telemetry data into clusters or classes (called cohorts). This will be done by looking at hardware IDs and revisions, the version of Windows 10 used, and some other parameters, and then forming 'clusters' of collected telemetry data.
Detect critical device and Windows combinations
This makes it easier to identify when there are driver problems with a Windows 10 version or device class. If a driver within such a cluster (or multiple clusters) is detected in telemetry and doesn't pass the test criteria, the delivery of that driver can be stopped for the affected devices.
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