No 64-bit graphics driver for Cedar Trail, nor any DX10.1 drivers by VR-Zone.com



If you haven't kept up with our past stories about Intel's Cedar Trail Atom processors, then this might come as a bolt of lightning from a clear sky if you were planning on getting a new netbook later this year, as Intel has decided not to develop any 64-bit drivers, nor will there be any DirectX 10.1 drivers. Despite more than capable hardware, Intel won't be offering drivers for Windows 7 64-bit, as the company has decided to re-focus its driver development efforts on Windows 8.

In as much as Intel has finally come up with an acceptable Atom CPU, it looks like its lack of drivers will now be crippling the platform instead of moving it forward. The motive isn't exactly clear to us, but it's possible that Windows 8 is a lot closer than anyone's expecting and Intel want to put as much effort as possible into having a fully featured driver ready for Microsoft's new operating system. Intel should have its first alpha driver ready early next year for Windows 8, but this is not really helping the current situation.

What's even worse is that Intel won't even have its first WHQL certified driver ready for the launch of Cedar Trail which expected to happen this month, although best case Intel will have a driver ready by the very end of this month. Other features such as support for Wireless Display 1.2 and Intel Smart Connect 1.2 won't arrive until next year, so its' clear that Intel has some issues getting its drivers out in a timely manner. That said, support for Wireless Display 1.1 should be part of the standard drive package, if this is a must have feature for your next netbook.

For those interested in a Cedar Trail netbook with Linux, then things get even more complicated as apparently Intel has decided to integrate the Linux driver into MeeGo 1.2, but it's not clear if the company will offer it for a separate download or not. That said, Intel isn't expecting to have final drivers ready until the end of January next year for Linux.

In related news, Intel will also be offering a single core "off roadmap" version of the mobile Cedar Trail-M processors, although we don't have any details on clock speeds here, but in this day in age we'd advice to steer clear from single core processors unless you have a very limited budget. The new, as yet un-named Cedar Trail-M single core CPU should arrive sometime in January next year.