1 hour ago
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Cloud-powered undo will roll back dodgy code without users or hardware partners lifting a finger
Microsoft is getting to grips with Windows drivers that leave the operating system in an unstable state with a proactive rollback dubbed "Cloud-Initiated Driver Recovery."
"When a driver is identified as having quality issues during our shiproom evaluation process, Microsoft can now initiate a recovery action from the cloud, replacing the problematic driver on affected devices without requiring manual intervention from the user or the hardware partner," the company explained.
The process applies to drivers distributed through Windows Update. Microsoft's partners can use the Windows Update service to distribute new code, but sometimes things go awry, and no amount of finger-pointing from Redmond will dispell the general feeling of instability and unreliability that surrounds the company's flagship operating system.
A cynic might wish that bugs were ironed out before faulty drivers are inflicted on users via Windows Update, or wonder why this functionality was not already present, but this is a step in the right direction.
Previously, if a vendor found a problem with a driver, remediation involved either a swift driver update or having the user perform manual steps to remove the faulty code. In some cases, users could be stuck with a defective driver for an extended period.
The change means Microsoft can now proactively kick off recovery action, rolling back the code to the last known good version via Windows Update. The hardware partner doesn't have to do anything to get the balky code off user computers – it's all handled by Microsoft. We would, however, expect some words with the vendor and the code fixed before long.
For Windows device users, the change is expected to improve quality and reliability. Driver partners, meanwhile, can leave Microsoft to handle rollbacks when defects are detected.
The change should also be transparent to users, although partners will need to be aware of what is happening. Microsoft wrote: "We encourage partners to continue monitoring their driver quality metrics in the Hardware Dev Center dashboard and to respond promptly to any shiproom feedback on rejected submissions."
Rollout will happen over the coming months. ®
English (US) ·