The first Windows 11-ready graphics drivers are from Intel

Intel is, not without a little surprise, the first graphics chip manufacturer to release certified drivers for Windows 11. Although this release – identified by the number 30.0.100.9684 – is mainly intended for GPUs integrated in microprocessors, it is the first to officially support the new operating system from Microsoft, while Nvidia and AMD are still engaged in development.

Although it looks like a Pyrrhic victory, as Windows 11 will debut no earlier than October-November on new PCs and will only be available in early 2022 as an update for existing PCs, Intel’s focus on Microsoft’s new operating system is by no means causal.

The US company is in fact preparing to renew the CPU range with Alder Lake and to enter – between the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022 – in the world of video cards dedicated to gaming, ready to fight (or at least we hope so) with the Radeon proposals. and GeForce. Windows 11 will be essential to make the Alder Lake microprocessors perform at their best, thanks to a hybrid architecture that will require an optimization of the Windows scheduler.

At the same time, presenting with Xe-HPG GPUs 100% compatible with the technical innovations of Windows 11 could represent a good business card for video game enthusiasts and more. It should be noted that in the driver release notes we also mention the Windows 11 Auto HDR support on 10th generation processors with Iris Plus graphics and above.

The drivers, to support Windows 11 (but you can safely install them on Windows 10 too), are WDDM 3.0 compliant and support Shader Model 6.6 of DirectX 12 shading language. The release is downloadable from this address and weighs just over 500MB. TO this address the release notes.