Microsoft will start removing legacy drivers from Windows Update
Microsoft will start removing legacy drivers from Windows Update to improve driver quality for Windows users but, most importantly, to increase security, the company has announced.
This is intended to be an ongoing process and Microsoft is planning to introduce new publishing rules for driver updates.
A step-by-step process
Microsoft is, in effect, trimming its “driver garden” so that Windows will – ideally and in time – only deal with fresh, well-tested, secure and compatible software.
“The first phase targets legacy drivers that have newer replacements already on Windows Update,” the company said. “The rationale behind this initiative is to ensure that we have the optimal set of drivers on Windows Update that cater to a variety of hardware devices across the Windows ecosystem, while making sure that Microsoft Windows security posture is not compromised.”
The drivers that get “expired” will stop being offered by Windows Update to any system/device.
Specific drivers can be republished
Windows Hardware program partners – i.e., the manufacturers, developers, and distributors who create hardware and drivers certified for Windows and publish them to Windows Update – will be able to republish the drivers that were expired, but will have to have a good explanation why they want to do that.
“This is meant to be a regular exercise to optimize what windows update has to offer. We are beginning with the above-mentioned category of drivers but will expand to cover more categories of drivers that Microsoft deems fit to be expired from windows update. Each time such a cleanup occurs, Microsoft will communicate broadly so that partners know what to expect,” the company explained.
After the initial cleanup, Microsoft will give hardware partners a 6-month window to raise concerns. If there’s no response, the drivers will be permanently removed from Windows Update. The same process will be repeated for the following batches of drivers.
This initiative may be better for the security and stability of Windows systems in general, but could also bring many problems to users of older devices that are still going strong.
“While having a well organized and updated driver catalog is undoubtedly a good thing, please spare a thought for curators of vintage PC collections,” a contibutor to the Microsoft Tech Community has pleaded.
“The Windows Update Driver catalog is a near unrivaled resource on the internet for known good drivers, and is a great source for drivers where the original manufactures have either removed the drivers from their own websites, or they no longer exist. It would be a shame to lose this one of a kind resource. Please consider letting Legacy Update or Archive.org take copies of the drives you remove!”