HWiNFO v7.73-5370 Beta was released yesterday—the newly updated version includes a fully integrated On-Screen Display (OSD) feature. In the past, users have had to rely on external tools—for example; RivaTuner Statistics Server (RTSS)—to get vital information displayed on their monitor(s) of choice. Martin, HWiNFO's main author, revealed that this new addition is based on a Team Blue toolset—his February 13 official forum post stated: "(this) feature is based on Intel PresentMon and allows showing any value as a text or graph (with multiple values). Position, text font, size, weight and colors can be individually defined. It should work with any engine like DirectX 11, 12, OpenGL, Vulkan. The OSD is automatically placed over the most graphics intensive application currently running but it can also be manually targeted." Five days later he followed up with further information—HWInfo64's new OSD is "available in HWiNFO64 only," therefore making it incompatible with Windows XP. Similarly, MSI's Afterburner 4.6.6 Beta landed a week and a bit ago, without support for Microsoft's 2001-vintage operating system.

Martin reckons that the change could affect Windows Vista users: "Use legacy HWiNFO32 on these systems. We don't anticipate that these systems will benefit from 64-bit applications, nor require support of latest HWiNFO64 versions. So the impact of this (sad) limitation should be minimal. In case there will be a reasonable demand for new versions of HWiNFO64 on XP64 it's still possible to build such versions (without OSD support), but currently we don't expect to make such extra effort." Additionally, the popular monitoring application's latest upgrade brings enhanced sensor monitoring for ASUS NUC systems, improved health monitoring on a selection of NVMe drives (connected via Intel RST), and enhanced sensor monitoring on the ASUS TUF GAMING Z790-PRO WIFI motherboard model.

Microsoft posted a technical brief of the new Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling feature introduced with Windows 10 May 2020 Update, and its latest Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) version. In a blog post by Steve Pronovost, a tech lead with Microsoft DirectX, Microsoft finally set out to explain what WDDM GPU Scheduling is. Introduced with Windows Vista, WDDM 1.0 introduced GPU scheduling, a software component that allocates workload from multiple sources onto a GPU, prior to which all applications that needed GPU-acceleration would send as much traffic as they could to the GPU driver. With growing complexity in the modern 3D rendering pipeline, the need for a scheduler, not unlike the OS thread scheduler, was needed.

In the following section (which matters), Microsoft went on to detail what Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling is. Apparently, some of the newer generations of GPUs (by NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel), have a hardware component in-built to perform scheduling. When this component is combined with Windows 10 May 2020 Update and a WDDM 2.7-compliant graphics driver, Windows offloads GPU scheduling onto it, freeing up some CPU resources and potentially reducing latencies at various stages of the graphics rendering pipeline. Windows continues to exhibit control over scheduling, but by talking to this scheduling component instead of a CPU-executed software stack.

TechPowerUp today released the latest version of GPU-Z, the popular graphics subsystem information, monitoring, and diagnostic utility. The new version 2.24.0 fixes a compatibility issue with Windows Vista in which the digital signature of the application's kernel-mode driver would spring up an error. We've also taken the opportunity to do some touch-ups, such as adding the PCI vendor ID for Dataland, some typos in the Vulkan Advanced information page; and support for a handful GPUs that include NVIDIA GeForce 305M, Quadro P620, and the Intel HD Graphics iGPU inside the Xeon E3-1265L V2. Grab it from the link below.

DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z 2.24.0The change-log follows.

Blizzard, best known for their Starcraft, Warcraft, and Diablo series (who are also responsible for that phenomenon World of Warcraft), has recently announced they are going to cut back support for older Windows-based operating systems. Resource allocation is a real problem; the opportunity cost of having engineers working on ensuring that their most recent updates and recent remasters aren't breaking support for older operating systems always comes at the cost of work on newer OSes.

As such, in a blog post on their forums, Blizzard has announced that starting in October of this year, "we will begin the process of ending support for Windows XP and Windows Vista in World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Diablo III, Hearthstone, and Heroes of the Storm." They went on to explain this decision, in that "Microsoft ceased mainstream support for these versions of Windows in 2009 and 2012, respectively, but since a decent portion of our audience was still using them at the time, we continued supporting them. However, there have been three major Windows releases since Vista, and at this point, the vast majority of our audience has upgraded to one of the newer versions." And if you're thinking that this isn't true end of life for these systems when it comes to Blizzard game support, think again: "The games will not run on these older operating systems once they are no longer supported, so we encourage any players who are still using one of the older OSes to upgrade to a newer version. We'll be rolling out this change on a staggered schedule, and will post further notices as we get closer to making the change for each game."

Futuremark today announced that it is pulling the plug on its decade-old benchmark suites, 3DMark Vantage and PCMark Vantage. Official support for the two products will end on the 11th of April, 2017. This would entail the two being removed from the Downloads section of Futuremark, a stoppage in software updates, and the all-important benchmark result validation service. The two will be relegated to the "legacy benchmarks" section, and will be available as free downloads. Incidentally, April 11 also happens to be the day Microsoft stops support for Windows Vista.

Windows Vista, an OS that faced large amounts of criticism in life, is finally being laid down to die. Whether the criticism was fair, whether it was a victim of its own faults or the faults of simply being too ahead of its time (a question that is still being hotly debated to this day), it matters not now: it's done. On April 11th, Microsoft is ending Windows Vista support.

If you still happen to be using the OS, you may want to consider upgrading. Running an older, unsupported OS is not recommended for general security reasons. The latest bugfixes and exploit patches will simply no longer be issued, and Microsoft will have nothing to do with the OS from this point forward.

Blizzard announced that support for several of its popular titles in Windows XP and Vista will be ending later this year. These titles include World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Diablo III, Hearthstone, and Heroes of the Storm.

Dropping support for these platforms makes sense from an economic standpoint. As a platform ages, it becomes increasingly hard to make software work with it without making it difficult to support modern technology and features. Windows XP in particular doesn't support above DirectX 9, severely limiting the abilities of a developer wishing to take advantage of modern graphics and effects. Vista, on the other hand, supports up to DirectX 11, but has such limited market share as to make it statistically irrelevant (XP market share hovers at slightly less than 10%, while Vista market share doesn't even register, according to netmarketshare.com).Source: HardOCP

AMD rolled out the latest version of its Catalyst software suite. Much like two of NVIDIA's recent "Game Ready" driver releases, the new Catalyst 14.11.1 beta is launched specifically for two of the hottest game releases of the season, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, and Assassin's Creed Unity. Since neither title supports less than 4 GB of system memory, or even Windows XP, AMD's release is highly specific, and only covers 64-bit Windows 8.1 Update 1, Windows 7, and Windows Vista. Grab it from the link below.DOWNLOAD AMD Catalyst 14.11.1 beta

Microsoft revealed pricing of its next major addition to the Windows franchise, Windows 8.1. Licenses to the operating system will sell at US $120 for the standard edition, and $200 for Windows 8.1 Pro. The key purchased at those prices can be used both for clean-installations, and to upgrade from Windows Vista or Windows 7, keeping your files, programs, and settings. Existing Windows 8 users get corresponding variants of Windows 8.1 for free, through Store.

A Windows Upgrade Assistant app will be issued to Windows 8 users, which verifies activation, downloads Windows 8.1 resources, and installs the operating system over the existing installation, letting you keep your stuff. Upgrading to Windows 8.1 for Windows 8 users, would be a no-brainer, since you get this awesome Start button on the taskbar which...spawns the "Metro" Start screen. PC enthusiasts get a longer DirectX rope, with the lure for DirectX 11.2, and its shared-resources (mega-textures) feature. People will be able to switch from Windows 8.1 to Windows 8.1 Pro by shelling out $99 on the Pro Pack, which also adds Media Center. Windows 8.1 Pro users can get that for an extra $10. Windows 8.1 is expected to launch on October 17, 2013.

LaCie today announced an update to its NAS OS 3 software, increasing RAID 5 write speeds by 25 percent, expanding hybrid cloud capabilities, and adding more professional features. NAS OS 3 powers the LaCie 5big NAS Pro and 2big NAS professional storage solutions. These improvements advance LaCie's commitment to providing its customers with innovative and user-friendly NAS.

With this update, the LaCie 5big NAS Pro now features RAID 5 write speeds up to 100MB/s on a single LAN, a 25 percent increase from the previous NAS OS version. This speed boost enables admins to easily back up several computers at the same time. Alternatively, content creators can edit 1080p content directly from the NAS.

Patriot Memory, a global pioneer in high-performance memory, NAND flash storage and enthusiast computer products today announces the availability of the new ultraportable Autobahn USB 2.0 drive. Designed for those looking for excellent USB 2.0 performance and high capacity in a micro sized form factor, the Patriot Autobahn is less than 18mm in length and becomes barely noticeable when plugged in.

Car audio enthusiasts can now rock their tunes with ease. The Autobahn is plug-and-play compatible with stereos that support USB connections for hours of music playback, without the hassle of plugging in an external player. The Patriot Autobahn is available in 8GB, 16GB and 32GB capacities to take all your data with you in and ever increasing mobile world.

NVIDIA released the GeForce 310.70 WHQL software suite, which isn't much more than a WHQL-signed version of the GeForce 310.70 beta drivers posted a couple of weeks ago. Available for 64-bit and 32-bit versions of Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP, the drivers, much like the 310.70 beta, are a cumulative of several R310 beta releases from over the past two months. They add significant performance increases over the previous 306.97 WHQL drivers.DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 310.70 WHQL for Windows 8/7/Vista 64-bit, Windows 8/7/Vista 32-bit, Windows XP 64-bit, Windows XP 32-bit

Kontron launched today the feature-packed, yet highly cost-efficient, embedded Flex-ATX motherboard KTA75/Flex based on the new AMD Embedded R-Series Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) and the AMD A75 controller hub. It is designed for graphics intensive and highly parallel embedded computing applications and provides outstanding, long-term stability and reliability due to its sophisticated board layout with long-term stable solid capacitors and a high-quality selection of components.

With its integrated discrete-class AMD Radeon HD 7000 Series Graphics it delivers leading edge 3D/HD graphics and accelerated processing capabilities together with the ability to drive up to four displays simultaneously, either as independent displays, or as a single large surface. This makes the long-term available Kontron KTA75M/Flex an ideal solution for applications requiring high graphics and/or parallel computing performance in markets such as industrial automation, medical, and POS/POI, digital signage as well as gaming.

It looks like Microsoft is using the old DirectX limitation trick to push PC enthusiasts to buy its latest operating system. According to a Hardware Info report that cites a post on Microsoft Answers Forum by Microsoft employee Daniel Moth, the company may restrict DirectX 11.1, of which the newest generation of GPUs from AMD and NVIDIA are compatible with, to Windows 8. Windows 7 users will have to make do with DirectX 11. The move could be a little harsh, as each new version of Windows has access to at least two new DirectX versions. Windows XP saw DirectX 8 and 9.x, Windows Vista DirectX 10 and 11. Microsoft DirectX 11.1 adds a few new features to its Direct3D component. In addition to a vendor-neutral stereo 3D platform, it adds a host of 3D API features.

Over the weekend, Activision released the minimum system requirements (MSR) list of its upcoming AAA title, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, for the PC platform. The publisher maintains that with the new engine being designed for DirectX 11, the game will no longer support Windows XP, yet it can make do with DirectX 10 hardware running on newer operating systems (Windows Vista and above). All you need to run Black Ops 2 is:

• Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 (2.66 GHz) or AMD Phenom X3 8750 (2.40 GHz), processor
• 2 GB for 32-bit, 4 GB for 64-bit environments, memory
• NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT 512 MB or ATI Radeon HD 3870 512 MB, video card
• Windows Vista SP2 or Windows 7 or above, operating system

AMD released the first WHQL-signed Catalyst drivers since June. Catalyst 12.8 WHQL is the first unified Catalyst driver certified for Windows 8, its release follows the RTM version of the operating system being available to enterprise and industry customers, ahead of the October 26 consumer retail launch. The driver introduces target-independent rasterization (TIR), an efficient new Direct3D rendering path. The driver also works to improve GPU power consumption. A suite of Windows 8-exclusive features, including native stereo 3D support and unified video API are included. Catalyst 12.8 WHQL also introduces performance-improvements specific to games, including up to 25% performance increase in Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, 10% in Dirt 3, 6% in Batman: Arkham City, and 3% in Battlefield 3. Several game-specific bugs were patched.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Catalyst 12.8 WHQL for Windows Vista, 7 and 8 (64-bit), Windows Vista, 7 and 8 (32-bit), Windows XP (32-bit), Windows XP (64-bit)

The change-log follows.

Giada, a brand of Shenzhen Jiehe Technology Development, Co., Ltd, today announces the i53 Mini PC. With full HD 1080P video, high connectivity, support, and an attractive design, Giada's new book-sized i53 Mini PC is an ideal choice for home entertainment, web browsing, and document writing.

The i53 is based around Intel's Mobile HM76 Express chipset and Ivy Bridge technology platform. Even while offering great performance, this environmentally friendly PC only uses 35W.

AMD has today let loose the newest Catalyst release, the WHQL-certified Catalyst 12.4 which includes the 8.961 graphics driver and features support for the Radeon HD 2000, HD 3000, HD 4000, HD 5000, HD 6000 and HD 7000 Series desktop cards.

Download links Windows 7/Vista (32-bit) | Windows 7/Vista (64-bit) | Windows XP (32-bit) | Windows XP (64-bit)

Catalyst 12.4 Release Highlights

New Features

Windows XP support for the AMD Radeon HD 7900 Series, AMD Radeon HD 7800, and AMD Radeon HD 7700 Series
- In addition to Windows 7 and Windows Vista support, Catalyst 12.4 now also introduces Windows XP (64-bit/32-bit) support for the AMD Radeon HD 7900, AMD Radeon HD 7800, and AMD Radeon HD 7700 Series

Super Sampling Anti-Aliasing: Level of Detail (LOD) Image Quality enhancements
- Supported on the AMD Radeon HD 7900, AMD Radeon HD 7800, and AMD Radeon HD 7700 Series
- LOD Image quality enhancements have been improved when enabling Super Sample Anti-Aliasing and Adaptive Anti-Aliasing through the AMD Catalyst Control Center for DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 applications.
- Applications must support in game Anti-Aliasing for the feature to work (Forced on Anti-Aliasing through the Catalyst Control Center is not supported for DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 applications)

Microsoft Windows Vista is out of its "mainstream support" from today. Users will continue to have free access to security updates, but those without a commercial support contract will have to pay for bug fixes or other patches. This phase between end of mainstream support and end of support is called "extended support", and for Vista, it will last till 2017. The decade-old Windows XP, on the other hand, will see Microsoft pull the plug on its support no later than in 2014.

AMD has now made available this month's WHQL-certified set of Catalyst graphics drivers. The Catalyst 12.3 comes with support for the 28 nm-flavored Radeon HD 7900, HD 7800 and HD 7700 Series, as well as for the Radeon HD 6000, HD 5000, HD 4000, HD 3000 and HD 2000 models.

Download: Windows 7/Vista (32-bit) | Windows 7/Vista (64-bit) | Windows XP (32-bit) | Windows XP (64-bit)

Santa Clara-based NVIDIA Corp. has today made available a couple of new graphics drivers, the WHQL-certified GeForce 296.10 for Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7, and the GeForce 296.17 preview driver specifically made for Windows 8. Both drivers feature support for GeForce 6, 7, 8, 9, 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 series desktop cards.

GeForce 296.10 WHQL - Windows Vista/7 (32-bit) | Windows Vista/7 (64-bit) | Windows XP (32-bit) | Windows XP (64-bit)
GeForce 296.17 - Windows 8 (32-bit) | Windows 8 (64-bit)

Redmond-based software giant Microsoft Corp. has recently updated its support policy for both Windows Vista and Windows 7 and will be offering extended support to the consumer versions of the two operating systems.

Previously, Microsoft provided 5 years worth of 'mainstream support' for consumers while only businesses got an extra 5 years of extended support. Now, all Windows users will be able to get security updates for 10 years after the operating system's release.

As a result of the policy change, Windows Vista's consumer support was extended to April 11th, 2017. Windows 7 support will end on January 14, 2020.

Radeon users who can't/won't wait for a WHQL certification process can now get their hands (not literally) on the Catalyst 12.2 driver featuring support for Radeon HD 2000, HD 3000, HD 4000, HD 5000, HD 6000, and HD 7000 Series cards. Available here for Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7, this release brings the following goodies:

Windows 7 and Windows Vista support for the AMD Radeon HD 7900 Series and AMD Radeon HD 7700 Series

- Enables support for Windows 7 64-bit/32-bit and Windows Vista 64-bit/32-bit
- Windows XP support will be made available in AMD Catalyst 12.4

Super Sampling Anti-Aliasing is now available for DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 applications

- Supported on the AMD Radeon HD 7900 and 7700 Series
- Users can now enable Super Sample Anti-Aliasing and Adaptive Anti-Aliasing through the AMD Catalyst Control Center for DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 applications
- Applications must support in game Anti-Aliasing for the feature to work (Forced on Anti-Aliasing through the Catalyst Control Center is not supported for DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 applications)

Sunnyvale-based heterogeneous computing promoter AMD has today made available an updated driver for its recently-released Radeon HD 7970 graphics card. Dubbed 8.921.2 RC11, this fresh driver brings the following:

Super Sampling Anti-Aliasing and Adaptive Anti-Aliasing Preview support for DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 applications

- AMD Radeon HD 7900 users can now enable Super Sample Anti-Aliasing and Adaptive Anti-Aliasing through the AMD Catalyst Control Center for DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 applications.
- Applications must support in game Anti-Aliasing for the feature to work (Forced on Anti-Aliasing through the Catalyst Control Center is not supported for DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 applications).

Microsoft Corp. today issued proceedings against Comet Group PLC for allegedly creating and selling more than 94,000 sets of counterfeit Windows Vista and Windows XP recovery CDs. The alleged counterfeits were sold to customers who had purchased Windows-loaded PCs and laptops.

"As detailed in the complaint filed today, Comet produced and sold thousands of counterfeit Windows CDs to unsuspecting customers in the United Kingdom," said David Finn, associate general counsel, Worldwide Anti-Piracy and Anti-Counterfeiting at Microsoft. "Comet's actions were unfair to customers. We expect better from retailers of Microsoft products - and our customers deserve better, too."