ATI/AMD has released its latest Windows XP Catalyst driver, version 7.1, for the newer Radeon cards (9600 and newer). There have been quite a few minor fixes, official download available here.

NVIDIA ForceWare 97.46 Vista Drivers Released

NVIDIA has released the following WHQL certified drivers for use with Windows Vista RTM 32/64bit version that will enable you to test the basic features and capabilities of the new operating system. For a full list of fixed issues, please view the release notes.

Download:
ForceWare 97.46 Vista Driver x86 RTM 32bit (38.5MB)
ForceWare 97.46 Vista Driver x64 RTM 64bit (47.6MB)

ATI Catalyst 7.1 Beta for Windows Vista Available

This is a beta version of the upcoming Catalyst 7.1 Radeon driver from ATI/AMD. We are sure a lot of people will be really pleased to see it. The revision build of this archive is 8.33 and should be an interesting driver for sure. I can not stress enough that this is a beta driver which is distributed by ASUS. You use it at your own risk.

Download: ATI Catalyst 7.1 Beta for Window Vista (91.6MB)

While many G80 owners were expecting at least a beta driver for Microsoft Windows Vista, NVIDIA will not be releasing anything like it until at least January. The lack of even a beta driver for Microsoft Windows Vista is getting a lot of criticism. When anyone with a G80 tries to install Microsoft Windows Vista, they will be forced to install a "standard VGA". This means that there are no shiny Aero Glass effects, and even 2D graphics might be challenging. NVIDIA is expected to have something ready for CES 2007.

This morning, NVIDIA and its partners released a new system BIOS for the NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI "Designed by NVIDIA" motherboards. These are the motherboards designed by NVIDIA and sold by EVGA, BFG, Biostar, and ECS. This BIOS update eliminates a bug related to the operation of SATA hard disk drives experienced by some customers. The bug is specific to these "Designed by NVIDIA" motherboards, and is not present on any other NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI motherboard, nor is it present in our MCPs (chipsets). Please click here and choose the manufacturer of your motherboard to download the appropriate update. NVIDIA strongly recommends that all customers upgrade their motherboards to this new BIOS, regardless of whether or not they have experienced this bug.

This is only a minor update, but recommended nonetheless. You can get this update by clicking "Help" and then "Check for Updates", or alternatively if this doesn't work, visit the Mozilla site and re-download Firefox. Some browsers may be set to automatically download anyway. The following issues have been fixed in this release:

• XSS using outer window's Function object
• RSS Feed-preview referrer leak
• Mozilla SVG Processing Remote Code Execution
• XSS by setting img.src to javascript: URI
• LiveConnect crash finalizing JS objects
• Privilege escallation using watch point
• CSS cursor image buffer overflow (Windows only)
• Crashes with evidence of memory corruption (rv:1.8.0.9/1.8.1.1)

New firmware for Microsoft's Zune player has been released. Apparently, it does not add any new features, but it has improved stability and performance. For devices being upgraded from Zune firmware version 1.0, this update includes the enhancements provided in Zune firmware version 1.1. Click here if you don't know how to update your Zune firmware.

After [H]ard|OCP has published an article that discusses NVIDIA's nForce 680i chipset problems, NVIDIA stated that they have a BIOS for the reference 680i motherboards design that they "believe resolves the SATA problem." EVGA and others are working with 680i motherboard owners to validate if the fix actually works for all of those folks having issues. The P23 BIOS for EVGA motherboards can be found here for download.

Intel is initiating a B-2 to L-2 stepping conversion for Intel Core 2 Duo processors E6300 & E6400 (Conroe) and Dual-Core Intel Xeon processors 3040 & 3050 (UP Xeon processors based on Conroe) where they will undergo the following changes:

• New S-Spec and MM numbers for the converting products
• CPUID will change from 6F6 to 6F2
• Extended HALT power specification will reduce from 22 Watts to 12 Watts
• Die size optimized for manufacturability
• Minor visible difference between the B-2 and L-2 packages; see below for a visual comparison
• L-2 package is pin compatible with B-2 package

While NVIDIA still hasn't posted a G80 driver, ATI has upgraded it's suite of drivers for Windows Vista. Anyone with Windows Vista RC2 or RTM can download and install the latest version of Catalyst Beta Driver for Windows Vista, which fixes issues in several games such as Serious Sam 2. It also fixes issues in Windows Media Player, the general installation/uninstallation of the drivers, and Temporal Anti-Aliasing. You can read the full release notes here.

You can download the December 13th version of the drivers here.

AMD/ATI does not reccomend using these drivers on mission-critical systems, does not support them, and says they will only install on a computer with Windows Vista RC2 or later.

ATI has released new official Catalyst 6.12 drivers for ATI based video cards. This release of the ATI Catalyst software suite introduces DirectX video acceleration for CrossFire enabled configurations.

Download: ATI Catalyst 6.12 Software Suite (34.6MB)

This driver supports all ALC series audio chipsets from ALC101 up to ALC861. It is used as onboard sound on many motherboards. Chips covered include ALC101/201/202/203/250/650/653/655/658/861.

Download

NVIDIA has released new ForceWare 97.44 drivers for Geforce 8800 GTX / GTS only that are WHQL certified. Click here to read the full v97.44 Release Notes.

Download: ForceWare Version 97.44 WHQL (39.1MB)

Sony released today new system software update version 1.30 for PlayStation 3 consoles. This is the second update released since the PS3 official start three weeks ago. Among the key updates is support for a Blu-ray Disc remote control, and the ability to select the output format for BD/DVD video through an HDMI cable. If you plan to update your PS3 system, to software version 1.30, please click here.