AMD launches Radeon Software Crimson

In early November, AMD revealed that Catalyst drivers would retire, at least by name. In the future, the software will be called Radeon Software with additions to mark larger releases and first out is Crimson Edition, which is released today with a new control panel and a number of optimizations.

Apart from a new graphical interface, stability is a key word for Radeon Software Crimson. Here, AMD has gone out and identified and fixed the ten most common errors among users. The company also has more automated and manual tests, which run on more test systems than before to find bugs before a new software version is released to the public.

Furthermore, AMD highlights from higher performance in both Windows and Linux, as a number of improved and new features. One of the more notable is that the Freesync screen technology now also works with DirectX 9, which is used for both older games and also newer ones in the MOBA genre.

One of the most anticipated features added with AMD Freesync is that the technology compensates for when the frame rate (FPS) falls below the screen’s minimum frequency for Freesync, this by doubling the panel’s refresh rate.

Last year, AMD dropped the traditional launch schedule for Radeon Catalyst, where the company released a new sharp version every month. Instead, 2015 was marked by a series of test versions and only three by Microsoft WHQL certified. This has not pleased the users and therefore AMD aims for six WHQL launches in 2016, with the addition that these will be released “if necessary”.

Radeon Software Crimson Edition is available for download for Windows 10, 8.1, 7 and Linux on AMD’s official website.