WHQL Testing (Windows Hardware Quality Labs testing) is Microsoft’s testing process which involves running a series of tests on third-party hardware or software on different hardware and different Microsoft Windows editions to ensure compatibility. Products that pass the WHQL tests get to use a “Certified for Windows” logotype which you might have seen on various hardware peripheral devices. Some device drivers that have passed the WHQL tests are also made available for download using Windows Update. it would be great to see out of the box compatibility for Nvidia card drivers with windows hardware and updated automatically through windows updates.
Nvidia already had GeForce Game Ready WHQL-certified driver for major game titles of 2014. The Maxwell and Kepler GPU architectures already support DX12, with support for Fermi coming later. Do note however that all this would only be beneficial on Windows 10 computers as existing Vista and Windows 7 would not support DirextX 12.
Nvidia newsletter reads “Next to the operating system, the graphics driver is one of the most complex pieces of code on a PC. We worked closely with Microsoft to develop the new DX12 standard. And that effort has paid off with day-one WHQL certification. We’re working on DX12 on many fronts. Our engineers are providing drivers, working with game engine providers, and co-developing with Microsoft. We’re also helping game developers deploy their DX12 titles.”
