this post was submitted on 05 Jul 2023
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Extensive hardware support is not really true. Windows is supported by hardware manufacturers because it's popular, but Microsoft isn't the one making drivers. So Windows doesn't have extensive hardware support since after installing the OS you have to spend time installing drivers which manufacturers made otherwise it's almost unusable.
Saying that Windows has driver support means that drivers are supported by the system (because they exist and are available) regardless of the driver's provider. The entities providing the drivers are essentially what gives Windows support.
Sure you have to spend time installing drivers just like you would have to spend time installing any type of software on a machine to achieve the operating function you require. I don't think I fully understand what you're trying to say here.
You are using "support" instead of "capability". Having capability of installing drivers is pretty much given to any operating system. Said drivers being provided for the operating system in question is a hardware manufacturer thing. Microsoft doesn't provide support for drivers, they provide capability of installing drivers. Microsoft is not involved in development process of said drivers not do they offer technical support in resolving issues regarding them. The fact Windows is the most popular means most manufacturers will support Windows but that has nothing to do with Microsoft other than charging for that sticker they put on boxes.
If you buy nVidia card, it's nVidia that supports Windows, not that Windows supports nVidia. nVidia made the effort to develop and test software on that operating system, is providing technical support for that software, has upgrade paths, etc. Windows is just there and popular.
This is completely asinine, you need to read up on your history. Microsoft literally created DirectX in 95 to help developers for software and hardware develop multimedia drivers and applications for windows.
"In late 1994, Microsoft was ready to release Windows 95, its next operating system. An important factor in the value consumers would place on it was the programs that would be able to run on it. Microsoft employee Alex St. John had been in discussions with various game developers asking how likely they would be to bring their MS-DOS games to Windows 95, and found the responses mostly negative; programmers had found that the Windows environment did not provide the necessary features which were available under MS-DOS using BIOS routines or direct hardware access.[6] There were also strong fears of compatibility; a notable case of this was from Disney's Animated Storybook: The Lion King which was based on the WinG programming interface.[7] Due to numerous incompatible graphics drivers from new Compaq computers that were not tested with the WinG interface which came bundled with the game, it crashed so frequently on many desktop systems that parents had flooded Disney's call-in help lines.[8][9]
St. John recognized the resistances for game development under Windows would be a limitation, and recruited two additional engineers, Craig Eisler and Eric Engstrom, to develop a better solution to get more programmers to develop games for Windows. The project was codenamed the Manhattan Project, like the World War II project of the same name, and the idea was to displace the Japanese-developed video game consoles with personal computers running Microsoft's operating system.[8] It had initially used the radiation symbol as its logo but Microsoft asked the team to change the logo.[8] Management did not agree to the project as they were already writing off Windows as a gaming platform, but the three committed towards this project's development.[9] Their rebellious nature led Brad Silverberg, the senior vice president of Microsoft's office products, to name the trio the "Beastie Boys".[10] "
Its also completely foolish to think that the driver engineers from any specific company don't have a corporate support line to contact if they need help with something or a personal contact they could bounce ideas off of.