Hardware makers Advanced Micro Devices Nvidia have released graphics software that supports both current-generation Microsoft Windows Vista and XP operating systems as well as next-generation Windows 7.

AMD’s Catalyst 9.3 software represents the industry’s first unified driver installation package to incorporate Windows 7 support, including Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) 1.1 compliance. It is their first driver to support both the upcoming Windows, as well as Windows Vista.

“The advanced state of our Windows 7 drivers this far ahead of the final Windows 7 release is yet another proof point of our graphics industry leadership. We are ready for Windows 7,” said Ben Bar-Haim, corporate vice president, Software Engineering, Graphics Products Group, AMD.

The driver supports Direct2D API and a driver support for HDMI audio, enhancement for Windows 7 acceleration for smooth, crystal-clear playback of multimedia and video plus incredible 3D game performance.

“AMD’s expertise in visual computing shines through in the combined experience of Windows 7 and ATI Radeon graphics,” said Anantha Kancherla, group program manager responsible for Windows graphics, Microsoft. “With today’s release of a Windows 7 unified driver, AMD once again demonstrates its ability to deliver performance and cutting-edge driver support.”

Recently, NVIDIA also announced its support for Windows 7 across its graphics processors as it unveiled new software on its website.

The company said the new drivers will be faster and offer increased performance and reliability.

We expect that all of our hard work teaming with Microsoft over the past two years will pay off for GeForce GPU owners when Windows 7 officially launches, NVIDIA's vice president for software engineering Dwight Diercks said.

The graphics card company said it will post the update on its website immediately, adding support for Microsoft's upcoming OS to all of its Gefoce branded graphics cards.

Microsoft has been widely known working hard to improve user interface as well as performance in Windows 7 and make the new OS much more user friendly overall.

As a result, it is hardly surprising that AMD, NVIDIA and other hardware suppliers are tremendously interested in preparations for Windows 7 launch that will surely boost sales of personal computers and hardware despite of economy crisis.

Software