AMD's First Catalyst Drivers for Vista Will Support HD DVD, Blu-ray

They're still being called the "ATI Catalyst" drivers - the reference drivers containing the latest programming and techniques for graphics cards bearing the ATI logo. But today, one day ahead of Microsoft's consumer edition Windows Vista rollout, the first Catalyst drivers for Vista are being released. They're officially numbered 7.1 (version 8.31 for XP is already in the field). But for the first time, they're being released by AMD, and this afternoon, AMD is accepting a great deal of the credit.

"One of the biggest reasons that AMD aligned with ATI for the future of computing where graphics and the orientation becomes a more meaningful part of everybody's experience," AMD Vice President for Global Marketing Pat Moorhead told BetaNews, "not limited to the enthusiast or the high end or the mainstream, where you typically find discrete cards."

It has been no secret that ATI has worked in tandem with Microsoft in the development of DirectX 10, the new Windows software drivers built specifically for Vista. Most likely, a new slate of games -- or, at the very least, new and unique features for existing franchises -- will take advantage of DirectX 10, including Electronic Arts' heavily promoted Crysis. When AMD acquired ATI, it may have also gained an advantageous relationship with Microsoft that may not be at quite the same level as rival nVidia in recent months, although nVidia would beg to differ.

The first slate of Vista-capable ATI drivers from AMD may actually have been ready for some time, with beta testers lately spending more time counting down the weeks before Vista launches than finding new bugs or reasons for AMD to delay.

One aspect of the new Catalyst for Vista drivers that AMD is especially touting is its built-in support for Blu-ray and HD DVD playback. This will be especially important for veteran DVD viewers who do not want a repeat of the first few years of the DVD format, where third-party video playback drivers were forced to mesh with graphics card drivers, along with all the codecs they had to share.

Another project which ATI was heavily involved with was the creation of the Windows System Performance Rating (WSPR) - a five-point scale that a Vista customer can use to rate the relative "coolness" of his own computer. AMD may not have been as heavily-involved as ATI in Microsoft's WSPR development, we were told, though we asked Pat Moorhead, now that Vista's almost out the door, what kind of system would he now consider to be a "5?"

"We believe that, for the highest end guy, what you're going to want is a Crossfire X1950 card," Moorhead responded, surprisingly referring to graphics capability first before ever bringing up the subject of CPUs. "Catalyst 7.1 provides increased performance, increased stability, and also adds Blu-ray and HD DVD playback. You obviously need a [high-def] drive, and a high-def display that supports HDCP. [Then you need] ATI Radeon X1600 or higher - if you follow our product line, that's most of the X-series cards out there."

We pressed Moorhead on the issue of why graphics cards matter so much with respect to Vista - to the extent that he'd grade a "5" computer based on its graphics capability rather than its dual- or quad-core raw data handling performance. "A premium operating system doesn't necessarily mean a premium experience," he responded. "While it is true with Vista that having a better processor and more memory is going to give you a better experience, 3D and a better graphics card makes a big difference as well.

"Although Vista looks cool and has cool features," he continued, "there's going to be cool stuff coming out for this for a long time. This is just the beginning of it, where [with] the 3D nature of the interface and the software development kit and the APIs that go along with that, people will start building more 3D-aware applications."

So with the PC market not guaranteed to pick up a full head of steam in the long term, is Moorhead certain that AMD and its partner OEMs won't find themselves wishing for a launch on the order of Vista's come January 2008, or 2009? The answer is that Moorhead's counting on DirectX 10 games and "3D-aware applications" - which aren't available today - to keep giving the PC market little adrenaline boosts down the line.

"With Vista comes DirectX 10; where are the DirectX 10 titles? Where is the DirectX 10 software? We know that will be paying off down the line, not on Monday," Moorhead said.

More of our interview with AMD's Pat Moorhead will follow later on BetaNews.