Thursday, February 23rd 2017
AMD Ends Windows 8.1 32-bit Support with Latest Radeon Software Release
With its latest Radeon Software Crimson ReLive 17.2.1 drivers, AMD decided to stop releasing regular WHQL-signed drivers for the 32-bit version of the Windows 8.1 operating system. At first we thought AMD's web-admins accidentally missed publishing the driver (so we could post it on our Downloads section). When we got in touch with AMD, we were told that the company doesn't have new drivers for 32-bit Windows 8.1. We were even told that it's because nobody cares about 32-bit Windows 8.1 anymore, citing extremely low download numbers.
Apparently, AMD is cutting down costs and time for its driver development team by discarding operating systems and architectures that only a few people use. It was first to dump Windows XP support, and support for Windows 8 (in favor of Windows 8.1). While the company does provide 64-bit Windows 8.1 WHQL drivers as regularly as its popular Windows 7 and Windows 10 ones; it is skipping support for 32-bit Windows 8.1 going forward. The company will not release any new Windows 8.1 32-bit drivers anymore. One way out of this is to upgrade to Windows 10 while you still can. Updating to Windows 10 from Windows 8.1 is pretty smooth, and maybe you can consider an upgrade to 64-bit, since most new AAA games are limited to 64-bit only.
AMD attributes the demise of its 32-bit Windows 8.1 support to the success of the Windows 10 free upgrade program, which relegated 32-bit Windows 8.1 to an extremely small install-base. Developer resources within the company were recently reallocated to focus on faster driver updates for popular operating systems, such as Windows 10 and Windows 7. The company is also consolidating its software teams to focus on a smooth Radeon Vega launch. This seems to be working, since the company recently shipped out a game release-synced driver updates faster than NVIDIA (the recent "For Honor" and "Sniper Elite 4" centric update). The company will sustain a fast driver update cadence especially after the launch of its Radeon Vega high-end graphics card line.
Apparently, AMD is cutting down costs and time for its driver development team by discarding operating systems and architectures that only a few people use. It was first to dump Windows XP support, and support for Windows 8 (in favor of Windows 8.1). While the company does provide 64-bit Windows 8.1 WHQL drivers as regularly as its popular Windows 7 and Windows 10 ones; it is skipping support for 32-bit Windows 8.1 going forward. The company will not release any new Windows 8.1 32-bit drivers anymore. One way out of this is to upgrade to Windows 10 while you still can. Updating to Windows 10 from Windows 8.1 is pretty smooth, and maybe you can consider an upgrade to 64-bit, since most new AAA games are limited to 64-bit only.
19 Comments on AMD Ends Windows 8.1 32-bit Support with Latest Radeon Software Release
AMD isnt getting rid of 8.1 64 bit support anytime soon.
But I hear you, for me every driver looks pretty much the same as any other, barring drivers that actually introduce a feature. And that's a good thing.
a 4GB video card + 4GB system memory = 8GB
a 8GB video card + 4GB system memory = 12GB
I wonder why AMD couldn't do a unified Win7/8 driver like Nvidia. I thought that after the massive XP to Vista changes, drivers didn't need major overhauls for successive OS versions (remember that 32-bit Win7 & 10 are still supported). Either way, it just reaffirms that 8 is the new Vista and 7 is the new XP. Wouldn't be surprised if both AMD and Nvidia drop 64-bit Win8 before 64-bit Win7... hell, 32-bit Win7 stands a passable chance of having longer support than 64-bit Win8.
I was using 32 bit windows until a couple years ago with PAE enabled (using the PAE patcher). But then games became 64 bit and I gave in :P
XP to Vista changes aren't that important, Nvidia manages to have the same driver even on Linux or Solaris. Then again, their effort started probably over 10 years ago.
WDDM was introduced in Vista and that was the grand disruption. However it was constantly updated and has seen another major release with Win10. So while you can use an older driver on Win10, supporting Win10 right still requires additional work.
However, I believe this has nothing to do with what's going on here. Imho AMD simply decided validating everything for 32bit on a platform with virtually no market share simply isn't worth returning its investment.