Archive notice: This article was originally published on May 11, 2009. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Windows 7’s graphics functions and use of GPUs were expected to improve image and video editing and 3D display quality. Around the release of Microsoft’s Windows 7 Release Candidate, NVIDIA became the first hardware manufacturer to introduce a new Windows Hardware Quality Labs-certified graphics driver for desktop and notebook computers, supporting current NVIDIA features across ION, GeForce and Quadro products.
By using GPUs for rendering and parallel computing, Windows 7 with DirectX was expected to improve graphics and reduce computer response times.
“Windows 7 users receive the latest performance and support for features including SLI, PhysX, 3D Vision and DirectX,” said NVIDIA Vice President of Software Engineering Dwight Diercks. “For gaming or video transcoding, users now know NVIDIA has official Microsoft WHQL certification.”
Driver version 185.85 WHQL supported Windows 7 Display Driver Model 1.1. Together with NVIDIA DirectX 10 GPUs, WDDM 1.1 drivers enabled improved Windows 7 visuals.
The driver was available at http://www.nvidia.de/object/windows_7_de.html. Windows 7 Release Candidate information was available at http://www.microsoft.com/windows7.