Nvidia plans to end driver support for 32-bit operating systems
Nvidia plans to end driver support for 32-bit operating systems
The company has pledged to deliver fixes for critical security vulnerabilities until January 2019, but do not expect any new optimisations or support for next-generation graphics hardware if you are using a 32-bit OS. Â
Below is Nvidia’s full announcement regarding these upcoming driver changes;
 Â
  After Release 390, NVIDIA will no longer release drivers for 32-bit operating systems1 for any GPU architecture. Later driver release versions will not operate, nor install, on 32-bit operating systems. Driver enhancements, driver optimizations, and operating system features in driver versions after Release 390 will not be incorporated back into Release 390 or earlier versions. This impacts the following operating systems:
Microsoft Windows 7
Microsoft Windows 8/8.1
Microsoft Windows 10
Linux
FreeBSD
NVIDIA intends to support critical driver security fixes until January 2019. For more details on product security, see http://www.nvidia.com/security.
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Nvidia can afford to make this change for one simple reason, because 32-bit is almost completely irrelevant in the modern PC world, especially for gamers. Most modern graphics cards offer more than 4GB of VRAM, with 8GB of system memory being common on today’s systems, making almost all of today’s new systems 64-bit. Â
Even when Windows 10 was initially released back in 2015, we heard complaints about why Microsoft would even bother to release a 32-bit version. Now over two years later support for 32-bit seems even more pointless.Â
This change will allow Nvidia to increase their focus on 64-bit operating systems and streamline the development of new drivers. The time and resource that were dedicated to 32-bit operating systems can now be directed at 64-bit drivers, which can only be seen as a good thing for consumers.Â
You can join the discussion on Nvidia’s plans to abandon 32-bit OS support on the OC3D Forums.Â
Nvidia plans to end driver support for 32-bit operating systems
The company has pledged to deliver fixes for critical security vulnerabilities until January 2019, but do not expect any new optimisations or support for next-generation graphics hardware if you are using a 32-bit OS. Â
Below is Nvidia’s full announcement regarding these upcoming driver changes;
 Â
  After Release 390, NVIDIA will no longer release drivers for 32-bit operating systems1 for any GPU architecture. Later driver release versions will not operate, nor install, on 32-bit operating systems. Driver enhancements, driver optimizations, and operating system features in driver versions after Release 390 will not be incorporated back into Release 390 or earlier versions. This impacts the following operating systems:
Microsoft Windows 7
Microsoft Windows 8/8.1
Microsoft Windows 10
Linux
FreeBSD
NVIDIA intends to support critical driver security fixes until January 2019. For more details on product security, see http://www.nvidia.com/security.
Â
 Â
Nvidia can afford to make this change for one simple reason, because 32-bit is almost completely irrelevant in the modern PC world, especially for gamers. Most modern graphics cards offer more than 4GB of VRAM, with 8GB of system memory being common on today’s systems, making almost all of today’s new systems 64-bit. Â
Even when Windows 10 was initially released back in 2015, we heard complaints about why Microsoft would even bother to release a 32-bit version. Now over two years later support for 32-bit seems even more pointless.Â
This change will allow Nvidia to increase their focus on 64-bit operating systems and streamline the development of new drivers. The time and resource that were dedicated to 32-bit operating systems can now be directed at 64-bit drivers, which can only be seen as a good thing for consumers.Â
You can join the discussion on Nvidia’s plans to abandon 32-bit OS support on the OC3D Forums.Â