Microsoft has acknowledged that faulty drivers have been silently draining battery life and degrading performance on Windows 11 for years. The company announced a new Driver Quality Initiative to address the issue.
New initiative overhauls driver evaluation
The initiative overhauls Microsoft's driver evaluation process. Instead of only checking for crashes, the new system will penalize drivers that cause poor performance, high power consumption, or excessive heat generation. Microsoft will block older low-quality drivers through Windows Update and introduce automatic rollback features for problematic updates.
The problem has affected Windows 11 users for a long time, with reports of high latency, audio glitches, graphics errors, and micro-stuttering. Microsoft confirmed that faulty drivers could prevent laptops from entering hibernation, leading to excessive battery drain.
According to Windows Latest, the new evaluation process aims to improve driver quality through stricter approval and closer collaboration with hardware partners. Microsoft has not confirmed the exact timeline for the rollout of these changes.
Discussion
0 comments
Log in to join the thread with a thoughtful take, question, or correction.