OSes
Cloud-powered undo will roll back dodgy code without users or hardware partners lifting a finger
Microsoft is getting to grips with Windows
drivers that leave the operating system in an unstable state with a proactive
rollback dubbed “Cloud-Initiated Driver Recovery.”
“When a driver is identified as having
quality issues during our shiproom evaluation process, Microsoft can now initiate a recovery action from the cloud, replacing
the problematic driver on affected devices without requiring manual
intervention from the user or the hardware partner,” the company explained.
The process applies to drivers distributed
through Windows Update. Microsoft’s partners can use the Windows Update
service to distribute new code, but sometimes things go awry, and no amount of finger-pointing from Redmond will
dispell the general feeling of instability and unreliability that
surrounds the company’s flagship operating system.
A cynic might wish that bugs were ironed out before faulty drivers are inflicted on users via Windows Update, or
wonder why this functionality was not already present, but this is a step in
the right direction.
Previously, if a vendor found a problem
with a driver, remediation involved either a swift driver update or having the
user perform manual steps to remove the faulty code. In some cases, users could be stuck with a defective driver for an extended period.
The change means Microsoft can now
proactively kick off recovery action, rolling back the code to the last known
good version via Windows Update. The hardware partner doesn’t have to do
anything to get the balky code off user computers – it’s all handled by
Microsoft. We would, however, expect some words with the vendor and the code
fixed before long.
For Windows device users, the change is expected to improve quality and reliability. Driver partners, meanwhile, can leave Microsoft to handle rollbacks when defects are detected.
The change should also be transparent to
users, although partners will need to be aware of what is happening. Microsoft
wrote: “We encourage partners to continue monitoring their driver quality
metrics in the Hardware Dev Center dashboard and to respond promptly to any
shiproom feedback on rejected submissions.”
Rollout will happen over the coming months. ®
