This is something I have been waiting for. Nobody wants to be notified 1000 times a day for updates like adobe products or java does. But, Video driver notifications are something I would welcome.
only the stupid people suffer from notifications, the others just use "autoruns" utility from sysinternals and voila - moronic adobe and oracle spam messages are plugged for life. learn the basics, son :P
Why would NVIDIA not continue using Windows Updates. They should concentrate more on working closely with Microsoft to supply updates via Windows' built-in updating mechanisms.
The Windows Updates drivers lag a bit behind the release drivers from what I've seen. I think for Joe Smoe the updater versions would suffice but for enthusiasts who want the latest and greatest this may be welcome. Personally I disable the tray icon, but when I open the the control panel if it told me an updated driver was available that would be nice.
I actually think the lag can be a good thing. That way there is a buffer to weed out drivers with bugs. I recall people having issues with Nvidia drivers screwing up their fan speed and causing the cards to overheat - sometimes it's best that the average user not be fed the latest driver right away.
The people who are going to appreciate the improvements that the latest/greatest driver update is going to give them probably don't need this feature either. Those people are going to hear about the new drivers on websites like this.
I really rather like that suggestion. Just about all of the current routers I've worked with do a similar thing and it works well. They run silently, but when you log into them to check logs or change a setting it will alert you to new firmware.
Agreed. It may be nice to get this feature as an additional option, but actually I prefer the Windows Update method. And Adobe and Oracle should join that team.
I like the Chrome style of auto-updating; happens silently in the background, and takes effect when I close my browser. It's seamless.
It'd be nice if the nVidia drivers would automatically update to the latest stable/beta version (make that an option), and silently update themselves in the background, switching over to the new drivers when the machine is idle (after all, that switch is just a few seconds of display flickering). Since Win7 doesn't require reboots for graphics driver updates anymore, this can work.
Only problem with that is an update to the browser is a lot less severe than a video driver as video drivers are part of the operating system running. Say it auto updated and you now bluescreened. Thhttp://www.anandtech.com/show/4252/nvidia-adds-dri... would suck as you would never know it auto updated. Now giving the option to do this but not enabling is prob the better way to go.
Only problem with that is an update to the browser is a lot less severe than a video driver as video drivers are part of the operating system running. Say it auto updated and you now bluescreened. This would suck as you would never know it auto updated. Now giving the option to do this but not enabling is prob the better way to go.
Even 'stable' video card drivers can have horrible bugs that may not be discovered immediately. ATI had one recently, if I recall, but they're hardly alone in that. By waiting after the initial release, you may at least hear about it if it's a big problem, or the drivers may be pulled if it's a big enough problem.
Let's hope that they are improving their drive QA process along side this so we don't have any more card bricking drivers that would now be pushed to everyone, a la http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Nvidia-196.75-dri...
Do these still require the whole uninstall the old driver/reboot/install new driver/reboot dance? As I don't game I rarely update video drivers even when I know they are available as it is such an annoyance to go through all that. I only update if a problem actually comes up (rare) or if some new feature is added such as Flash acceleration.
We really need to get rid of every program having a custom autoupdater running in the background. Why can't it be just like OSX where updates have a unified user interface and update checking daily/weekly/monthly.
For drivers it should use Windows update and there should be better notifications for driver updates instead of just appearing as optional updates which you can't see unless you deliberately open the Windows Update dialog.
Websites like http://www.driverstorer.com/ are pretty good at keeping current with the latest device driver updates. I'm already sick of update popups from: java, adobe, logitech yahoo... the list goes on. I don't really need another series of popups.
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xeopherith - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
This is something I have been waiting for. Nobody wants to be notified 1000 times a day for updates like adobe products or java does. But, Video driver notifications are something I would welcome.Pirks - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
only the stupid people suffer from notifications, the others just use "autoruns" utility from sysinternals and voila - moronic adobe and oracle spam messages are plugged for life. learn the basics, son :PAdamK47 - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
Or you can manually kill these services. Learn the basics, son.This nVidia driver notification is just something else I'll have to disable.
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Wolfpup - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
Yeah, I want to be running the newest drivers generally (until my GPU isn't really updated anymore, I guess...) and you can always turn it off.UltraWide - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
Why would NVIDIA not continue using Windows Updates. They should concentrate more on working closely with Microsoft to supply updates via Windows' built-in updating mechanisms.Einy0 - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
The Windows Updates drivers lag a bit behind the release drivers from what I've seen. I think for Joe Smoe the updater versions would suffice but for enthusiasts who want the latest and greatest this may be welcome. Personally I disable the tray icon, but when I open the the control panel if it told me an updated driver was available that would be nice.nwrigley - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
I actually think the lag can be a good thing. That way there is a buffer to weed out drivers with bugs. I recall people having issues with Nvidia drivers screwing up their fan speed and causing the cards to overheat - sometimes it's best that the average user not be fed the latest driver right away.The people who are going to appreciate the improvements that the latest/greatest driver update is going to give them probably don't need this feature either. Those people are going to hear about the new drivers on websites like this.
Taft12 - Thursday, March 31, 2011 - link
No kidding! Remember this incident when an Nvidia driver update could lead to cooking your GPU?http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10464475-1.htm...
Mr Perfect - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
I really rather like that suggestion. Just about all of the current routers I've worked with do a similar thing and it works well. They run silently, but when you log into them to check logs or change a setting it will alert you to new firmware.MrSpadge - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
Agreed. It may be nice to get this feature as an additional option, but actually I prefer the Windows Update method. And Adobe and Oracle should join that team.MrS
Guspaz - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
I like the Chrome style of auto-updating; happens silently in the background, and takes effect when I close my browser. It's seamless.It'd be nice if the nVidia drivers would automatically update to the latest stable/beta version (make that an option), and silently update themselves in the background, switching over to the new drivers when the machine is idle (after all, that switch is just a few seconds of display flickering). Since Win7 doesn't require reboots for graphics driver updates anymore, this can work.
hackztor - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
Only problem with that is an update to the browser is a lot less severe than a video driver as video drivers are part of the operating system running. Say it auto updated and you now bluescreened. Thhttp://www.anandtech.com/show/4252/nvidia-adds-dri... would suck as you would never know it auto updated. Now giving the option to do this but not enabling is prob the better way to go.hackztor - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
Only problem with that is an update to the browser is a lot less severe than a video driver as video drivers are part of the operating system running. Say it auto updated and you now bluescreened. This would suck as you would never know it auto updated. Now giving the option to do this but not enabling is prob the better way to go.Araemo - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
Even 'stable' video card drivers can have horrible bugs that may not be discovered immediately. ATI had one recently, if I recall, but they're hardly alone in that. By waiting after the initial release, you may at least hear about it if it's a big problem, or the drivers may be pulled if it's a big enough problem.Natfly - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
Let's hope that they are improving their drive QA process along side this so we don't have any more card bricking drivers that would now be pushed to everyone, a la http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Nvidia-196.75-dri...piroroadkill - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
Who the fuck saves an image like the first as a JPEG for a start, when it's text heavy... and THEN saves it as a PNG? Jesus Christ.war59312 - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
Yea! WTF dude! ;)silverblue - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
But it's not text-heavy; it's mainly graphical. That said, I'm not sure about converting it to PNG thereafter.The second image makes a whole load more sense due to its uniformity and the comparative lack of colour.
strikeback03 - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - link
Do these still require the whole uninstall the old driver/reboot/install new driver/reboot dance? As I don't game I rarely update video drivers even when I know they are available as it is such an annoyance to go through all that. I only update if a problem actually comes up (rare) or if some new feature is added such as Flash acceleration.kasakka - Friday, April 1, 2011 - link
We really need to get rid of every program having a custom autoupdater running in the background. Why can't it be just like OSX where updates have a unified user interface and update checking daily/weekly/monthly.For drivers it should use Windows update and there should be better notifications for driver updates instead of just appearing as optional updates which you can't see unless you deliberately open the Windows Update dialog.
techyZ - Saturday, April 2, 2011 - link
Websites like http://www.driverstorer.com/ are pretty good at keeping current with the latest device driver updates. I'm already sick of update popups from: java, adobe, logitech yahoo... the list goes on. I don't really need another series of popups.danzi88 - Wednesday, April 6, 2011 - link
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zerocool3312 - Thursday, April 7, 2011 - link
This is the kind of thing everyone has been waiting for. A simple way to update drivers, I will always use this thank you for sharing with us.