Unlike Linux where updates for both your hardware and software are taken care of neatly, Windows usually requires some manual labour when it comes to keeping drivers for your hardware up to date. This niche can be filled through the use of Driveragent, a service that checks your present hardware setup and recommends appropriate updates.
While Driveragent have been around for a while, using their detector used to involve some IE high jinks and membership to download any updates. The downloads also used to be from their own servers rather than via a redirect to the hardware manufacturer and I was always hesitant to use them. However, when I noticed that even Gigabyte now recommend using their service to maintain my drivers, I decided to give them another shot and found that there have been some changes. The IE requirement is now gone and a lot of the red-tape has been removed with a number of drivers being made available for free download. I haven't had a need to download anything from them yet, but if there is a need, I think I will do so. But, the update detector alone is worth giving this site a visit, especially when you're dealing with hardware issues.
All in all, looks very handy.
- Log in to post comments