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AMD has posted its first Catalyst driver package of the new year, Catalyst version 12.1, the feature set of which hasn't changed much since the preview release – the banner feature is still custom application profiles, which allow users to create custom 3D and CrossFire setting for individual games. This has long been a feature offered by NVIDIA's driver packages, and it's nice to see AMD implementing it. AMD notes that users of the Catalyst 12.1 preview package should restore the Catalyst Control Center's default settings after upgrading to prevent compatibility issues.

The 12.1 drivers also enable 3D display support for CrossFireX setups, and a "Stereo 3D mode" over HDMI 1.4a connections which supports 1080p at 30Hz on displays that can take advantage of it. New video color and quality adjustment panels offer no new features but aim to simplify adjustment of those settings. A handful of game and bug fixes for Windows 7 and Vista users round out the release notes.

The Catalyst 12.2 preview, available here, focuses primarily on Eyefinity 2.1 improvements. These include a "larger" selection of resolutions are available, the drivers will automatically switch between different display configurations as monitors are plugged in and unplugged, the HydraVision software now allows the Windows taskbar to be moved and resized, and the driver also offers "increased support" for Display Groups, including groups of up to five monitors. Additionally, the 12.2 driver addresses many of the "known issues" with games present in the 12.1 drivers.

Interestingly, neither driver offers support for the newly-released Radeon HD 7970 cards—AMD says that 7970 users need to stick with the separate 8.921.2 RC11 driver, posted here. Given that the preview driver packages tend to be pretty representative of the final WHQL-certified versions, we may not see 7000-series support in the Catalyst packes until 12.3 (but hopefully not much later).

As usual, these drivers are available for desktops running 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows 7, Vista, and XP, and laptops running Windows 7 and Windows Vista. Most DirectX 10 and 11 capable cards, IGPs, and APUs in the 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, and 6000 series are supported.

Source: AMD (12.1, 12.2)

AMD has posted its first Catalyst driver package of the new year, Catalyst version 12.1, the feature set of which hasn't changed much since the preview release – the banner feature is still custom application profiles, which allow users to create custom 3D and CrossFire setting for individual games. This has long been a feature offered by NVIDIA's driver packages, and it's nice to see AMD implementing it. AMD notes that users of the Catalyst 12.1 preview package should restore the Catalyst Control Center's default settings after upgrading to prevent compatibility issues.

The 12.1 drivers also enable 3D display support for CrossFireX setups, and a "Stereo 3D mode" over HDMI 1.4a connections which supports 1080p at 30Hz on displays that can take advantage of it. New video color and quality adjustment panels offer no new features but aim to simplify adjustment of those settings. A handful of game and bug fixes for Windows 7 and Vista users round out the release notes.

The Catalyst 12.2 preview, available here, focuses primarily on Eyefinity 2.1 improvements. These include a "larger" selection of resolutions are available, the drivers will automatically switch between different display configurations as monitors are plugged in and unplugged, the HydraVision software now allows the Windows taskbar to be moved and resized, and the driver also offers "increased support" for Display Groups, including groups of up to five monitors. Additionally, the 12.2 driver addresses many of the "known issues" with games present in the 12.1 drivers.

Interestingly, neither driver offers support for the newly-released Radeon HD 7970 cards—AMD says that 7970 users need to stick with the separate 8.921.2 RC11 driver, posted here. Given that the preview driver packages tend to be pretty representative of the final WHQL-certified versions, we may not see 7000-series support in the Catalyst packes until 12.3 (but hopefully not much later).

As usual, these drivers are available for desktops running 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows 7, Vista, and XP, and laptops running Windows 7 and Windows Vista. Most DirectX 10 and 11 capable cards, IGPs, and APUs in the 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, and 6000 series are supported.

Source: AMD (12.1, 12.2)

Later this morning NVIDIA will be releasing the first public beta of their 270 series GeForce drivers. NVIDIA is promising the usual spate of performance improvements that come from a new driver branch; notable improvements include Dragon Age 2 given the game’s poor performance on NVIDIA’s existing drivers, and 3D Vision/3D Vision Surround performance for some games. Of course driver performance gains rarely match what’s advertised, so your mileage may vary.

The more important bit of news coming with the release 270 drivers is that NVIDIA is going to be including a driver update notification service. Currently NVIDIA has a true auto update service for Optimus but nothing for the rest of their drivers; and meanwhile AMD launched their own notification service with the Catalyst 11.4 preview drivers earlier this month.

Unlike the Optimus service – which is a full auto update service – NVIDIA’s GeForce driver update service will be a notification service; driver updates are just a wee bit bigger and are more likely to go wrong than a simple profile update. As with the AMD’s notification service this is going to be enabled by default, as users most likely to encounter problems with out of date drivers are the most likely to pass over the option to enable driver update notifications. Meanwhile for power users the service will also have an option to poll for beta drivers as frequently as once an hour for the truly cutting edge. Notably, NVIDIA is going to be directing users to their download page rather than directly downloading the newest drivers, as they want users to be able to read the release notes first.

As with AMD's notification service we're a bit worried about this becoming another source of update spam for most users, but we'll see how things go. NVIDIA's less frequent WHQL release schedule should result in fewer updates over the period of a year than AMD's schedule, and as a result fewer update notifications. Meanwhile NVIDIA has not announced a release date for WHQL drivers, however we'd expect it to occur in April, meaning both NVIDIA and AMD will begin including update notifications with their public WHQL drivers at approximately the same time.

Update: 270.51 Beta has been posted

UK ROAD RECOVERY SERVICE, the Automobile Association (AA), is warning drivers to be on the look out for ‘zombie’ Ipod users or ‘podestrians’, through its insurance arm.

“‘Ipod oblivion’ – a trance-like or Zombie state entered by some people using MP3 players, phones and electronic organisers on the move – can be lethal for pedestrians, cyclists and car drivers”, it warned when launching an awareness campaign.

These ‘zombies’, the AA said, wander blindly around the roads of the UK, probably listening to Dan Brown audiobooks, Kenny G, or avante-garde funk on their Ipods, with nary a second thought about traffic and other non-cool things like that.

“AA patrols have noted a marked increase in the number of ‘Ipod zombie pedestrians’ and joggers oblivious to traffic around them as they cross busy roads,” it said. “It is thought that pedestrians’ lack of attention may be a factor in some of the 500 pedestrian deaths or 26,887 pedestrian casualties last year.”

Ipods are not the only tool of the devil, and ambulance chasing solicitors and the AA also fingered smartphones and the band Motorhead in its release. “It appears that more people are using communication technology on the move,” it added, pointing its oily finger at email checking business men, heavy metal joggers and smartphone app using, restaurant hunting tourists.

The warnings do not just apply to pavement slugs that mooch into the road with the vacant air of the lobotomised, but also to drivers that wear headphones while in control of a car.

AA president Edmund King said, “We can’t stop the march of technology but we need to halt the ‘Ipod pedestrian, cycle and driver zombies’. Whether on two feet, two wheels or four, too many people are suffering from so-called ‘iPod oblivion’.

“When on the move our brains have much to take in and using technological gadgets means that our brains can’t always concentrate on so many things at once. This is when we walk into traffic, don’t hear the truck or drive cocooned from the outside world.”

The AA will look for the term ‘podestrian’ to catch on, and reports that more drivers making claims for minor shunts are citing ‘podestrians’ or Ipod wearing pedestrians as the cause than ever before.

It is urging people to be more concerned about their personal safety than whatever ear gum is coming next, or whatever foppish Facebook updates their friends might have made. µ