August 21st, 2008
“Windows 7 Client” drivers appear on Microsoft’s Update Catalog
An eagle-eyed enthusiast over on the Neowin forum has noticed that “Windows 7 Client” drivers have made an appearance in Microsoft’s Update Catalog.

Take a quick look through the catalog and you’ll see big hitters such as NVIDIA and ATI present alongside Hauppauge, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Razer and many others. Many of the drivers listed date back to 2007.
I don’t think that I’m going to place much significance on this find. It might indicate that a beta could be forthcoming shortly or it might be that Microsoft is using this as a way to show those paying attention that hardware that runs under Vista will run under Windows 7.
A few of points worth making …
- I wouldn’t take the presence or absence of any piece of hardware as an indication of final compatibility (for example, just because I can find a Windows 7 Client driver for the ATI Radeon 9550 I’m not going to assume that this card will deliver a good Windows 7 experience, or even that this card will meet the final system requirement specs). I’ll start believing in what works and what doesn’t when I start seeing betas.
- So far I’ve not come across a single driver listed as “Windows 7 Client” only.
(Hat tip to Long Zheng.)
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Adrian is a technology journalist and author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology. He also runs a popular blog called The PC Doctor. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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