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AMD Ceases Graphics Driver Development for 32-Bit Operating Systems

posted by martyb on Tuesday October 30 2018, @02:07AM   
from the graphic-drivers-are-logo-emblazoned-golf-clubs dept.

takyon writes:

AMD Ceases Graphics Driver Development for 32-bit Operating Systems

With the recent October releases of Adrenalin Edition, AMD has finally discontinued support for 32-bit operating systems. The latest 32-bit packages can still be manually downloaded through older driver release notes, of which Adrenalin Edition 18.9.3 is the last release with 32-bit drivers.

The change doesn't come as a surprise. Earlier this year, NVIDIA ceased driver development for 32-bit OSes, and early last year AMD dropped graphics driver support for 32-bit Windows 8.1. Pre-GCN hardware was moved to legacy status back in 2015. Ultimately, the idea is to concentrate development and engineering resources, particularly if those resources are limited. Over the past few years, AMD has put in a renewed effort in graphics driver development, retiring Catalyst for "Radeon Software" and embarking on major annual updates, both for gaming and professional products. In that sense, prolonging 32-bit support diffuses focus for very specific edge cases for little benefit, and that goes for both NVIDIA and AMD.

Previously: Nvidia to Stop Writing Drivers for 32-Bit Systems (Eventually)
Nvidia Ends Mainstream Support for Fermi GPUs and 32-Bit Operating Systems

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Original Submission

• Re:That's as straw man. 32-bit drivers already exi Re:That's as straw man. 32-bit drivers already exi (Score: 4, Insightful) by c0lo on Tuesday October 30 2018, @04:36AM (1 child)

  by c0lo (156) on Tuesday October 30 2018, @04:36AM (#755509) Journal

  AMD is saying they are dropping support for a product that has hitherto been supported on 32-bit machines.

  Does it mean that the currently available drivers will cease to exist, will be no longer available to download or otherwise the installed drivers will become unusable?

  To my mind it mean no more and no less than: "no new versions or bug updates for the 32 bits versions in the future".

  --
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford

  Parent

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• Yes. Now see the very top comment. (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 30 2018, @03:41PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 30 2018, @03:41PM (#755670)

  SIGH

  Parent