The Longhorn Driver Model - Will my wish come true?

mikey — Wed, 21 Jul 2004 17:19:00 GMT

DevSource is running a story about the new Longhorn Driver Model. It looks like it's going to have some really awesome stuff, like boilerplate code libraries, and a split kernel/user mode. Oh, and driver isolation... that's kinda nice... :)

I've never written a driver before, and probably never will, so despite how cool this stuff may be for driver authors, I'm probably missing out on most of it. I'm hoping - however - that this new model will solve one of my biggest peeves with Windows once and for all: Limited users cannot install a local printer or a digital camera. I guess limited is the operative word.

So here's why I hate this. The company which is nice enough to employ me has tons of remote users with laptops. We've taken it upon ourselves to “do the right thing” and have all our users running as normal Users (with a few tweaks here and there). For these mobile users, a simple task like installing a printer is a complete bust, since they need admin rights to do it.

I can understand it from a security point of view, but from a user (and technical) point of view, it's not so hot. The dream of the paperless office hasn't quite gotten here yet (my desk is a prime example...), so printing is pretty important.

Am I correct is assuming that this new kernel/user mode split in the driver model could give us this flexibility?

Giving credit where credit is due - I found this article through Ryan Gregg's Blog, as well as Chris Sells'.

Confessions of a Longhorn User : .NET Programming, Security

The Longhorn Driver Model - Will my wish come true?