Microsoft might be working on a new way to test and release Windows Driver and Firmware updates

Microsoft is working on a new system to check and release Windows Driver and Firmware updates. The company shed light on the new Component Firmware Update (CFU) in a blog post earlier this week.

For those who don’t know, Component Firmware Update (CFU) protocol is an open source project housed at the GitHub repository, providing driver and firmware code samples for testing. The protocol follows a model where it will accept the drivers which are appropriate for it. Microsoft designed this system to ensure that these firmware and driver updates will cause little or no user disruption.

Microsoft also laid down some points which are defined as the goals of CFU in the long run. You can check the list below.

• Update must occur with little or no user disruption – no “update mode” that requires the user to wait or even be aware that an update is taking place.
• Update must be delivered through Windows Update drivers.
• Update must be able to wait to update a device until it becomes available.
• Drivers must not have to “know” specifics of any update package other than which component device to send it to.
• Evaluation of the appropriateness of the update lies with the component receiving it, not in the driver.
• Target must be able to reject firmware before it is downloaded if it is inappropriate.
• Update must permit third-party versioning schemes to be mapped to a standardized versioning scheme.

The new protocol will ensure users won’t have issues which we saw just after the release of October 2018- issues like a loss of sound with Intel drivers, and HP keyboard drivers causing blue screen problems for some users. The blog post didn’t define when Microsoft will implement this protocol but it’s safe to assume that it might be done with the upcoming 19H1 update. If you’re interested in knowing more about the protocol then you can check out Microsoft’s blog post. Do let us know your thoughts on this new system in the comments section below.

Via: Redmond Mag