NVIDIA’s two year old Verde program just didn’t do the job. I mean, it did provide some new drivers for laptops but not  frequently enough and always several versions behind the desktop versions. While it wasn’t that good a program it was the only one like it until AMD came up with a program that actually works, which they started in February. They had the foresight to make the program opt-out rather than opt-in.

Why is that important? You Ask. Schools have known for decades that parents will definitely sign a form if they do not want their children to participate in something. But only 10-20% bother to sign an opt-in form. Computer users aren’t any better. They will let you know if they don’t want or like something but rarely bother to sign up otherwise because they either didn’t see the announcement or they told themselves that they would do it later and, of course, “later” never gets here.

The second thing AMD did was release laptop drivers at the same time as the desktop versions. In other words, there will be new versions approximately monthly for any supported laptop.

The new drivers will support everything except switchable graphics and laptops from Panasonic, Sony and Toshiba. Switchables are not supported because of the need to synchronize with the on board Intel drivers.

Not to be outdone, NVIDIA has promised to match AMD’s monthly driver release schedule by making a commitment to release both laptop and desktop drivers at the same time!

Verde release 197 has laptop drivers at version 197.16 and desktops at version 197.45, not exactly identical but pretty darned close. NVIDIA promises that the next release due out at the end of MAY will be the exact version for both laptop and desktop drivers and they are adding support for the latest Optimus laptops.

Included with the 197 mobile driver is support for any GeForce 8M or later, Quadro NVS, and Quadro FX GPU. There is also support for Sony VAIO laptops. Minor updates are included for CUDA, PhysX and DirectCompute. There is also some extended 3D support for external monitors. All are welcome features.

All I can say is, “NVIDIA, What took you so long?”