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You can now download the 296.17 driver directly from NVidia rather than getting it off of Windows Updates as a cab file but NVidia still says that this driver is only for Windows 8 Consumer Preview, not for Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8 Developer Preview. Link to the download: http://www.nvidia.co...aspx?lang=en-us NVidia says that the 296.10 driver is the equivalent to the 296.17 driver and in my performance comparison tests they came out the same. If you're on Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8 DP better just use the 296.10 driver.

The 64-bit Windows 8 NVidia 296.17 driver for my GTX 580 card off Windows Updates has changed today. I already had the driver installed but today Windows Updates wanted to update it. We'll have to investigate to see if we can tell what changed. When it first came out it was an Optional Update with driver ID 200000362 located here: http://fg.v4.download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/driver/drvs/2012/03/200000362_07dfffc4d95b942cc145cda2275ad422c9207b5c.cab Today it is an Important Update with driver ID 4915 and is about 1MB larger in size located here: http://fg.v4.download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/driver/drvs/2012/03/4915_93218e8fc76289f99775e6f9a5c9cb7cbfb982b3.cab The update may be specific for certain models of cards so if you don't want to get it by the Windows Updates in Windows 8 you may want to check the Microsoft Update Catalog here: http://catalog.update.microsoft.com/v7/site/home.aspx

It has been wondered if Windows 8 is going to be a better gaming platform for games than Windows 7. Heaven 3.0 Benchmark was recently released so it was used for this test. NVidia driver 296.17 was used for testing on both Windows versions even though NVidia recommends that particular driver for Windows 8 only. Test Machine: i7 975 cpu@4.22 GHz, GTX 580, 1920 x 1080 res, driver 296.17 Test Settings: 4x AA, 4x Anisotropic, High Textures, Ambient Occlusion off Scores - Min FPS - Avg FPS - Max FPS 2325 ------ 39.0 ------ 92.3 ------ 191.8 ------ Windows 8 DX 9, 1st run 2330 ------ 38.7 ------ 92.5 ------ 192.1 ------ Windows 8 DX 9, 2nd run 2326 ------ 46.7 ------ 92.3 ------ 187.7 ------ Windows 7 DX 9, 1st run 2327 ------ 46.3 ------ 92.4 ------ 188.5 ------ Windows 7 DX 9, 2nd run ? 1823 ------ 34.2 ------ 72.4 ------ 170.0 ------ Windows 8 DX 11, Normal Tess, 1st run 1823 ------ 34.3 ------ 72.4 ------ 168.9 ------ Windows 8 DX 11, Normal Tess, 2nd run 1815 ------ 31.3 ------ 72.1 ------ 168.7 ------ Windows 7 DX 11, Normal Tess, 1st run 1823 ------ 33.4 ------ 72.4 ------ 169.4 ------ Windows 7 DX 11, Normal Tess, 2nd run Conclusions: In DirectX 9 tests the Min FPS value is noticeably higher on Windows 7 and that is going to be more important in a game than the Max FPS value. In DirectX 11 tests the Min FPS value is only very slightly better on Windows 8 so for all practical purposes Win 7 and Win 8 are pretty much the same. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

ZDNet came out with an interesting guide on customizing the Windows 8 Metro interface to make it look nice: http://www.zdnet.com...ame#photo-frame A Critical Windows Update to fix a nasty security flaw (remote code execution) in multiple versions of Windows will be out tomorrow so don't miss it. Battlefield 3 is on sale for a whopping 50% off this whole week over on the Origin site.

This free utility will let you disable the Metro interface in Windows 8 Consumer Preview and it gives you the Windows 7 start menu instead. It is called Vistart. http://www.lee-soft.com/vistart/ But be careful when you install it because it wants to install some other stuff too if you don't decline it. Vistart gives you the option to have it startup with Windows or not. You can toggle back and forth between Metro and Windows 7 start menu interfaces when you want.

Disable driver signature enforcement or Enable low-resolution video mode in Windows 8 Consumer Preview (Works with 64-bit) Select Settings (right bar)/More PC Settings (at bottom) Then go General/Advanced Startup/Restart Now/Troubleshoot/Advanced Options/Windows Startup Settings/Restart As your PC is starting up be pressing F8 to get to the menu where you can choose to Disable driver signature enforcement or Enable low-resolution video mode or Enable safe mode. Also do a search within Window Settings, find topic called Change Device Installation Settings, and choose your options. After doing all of these steps I was able to install driver 295.18, however Windows did not know I had a NVidia card installed anymore and I had no display adaptors showing up in Device Manager. Windows was then using some generic display adaptor that was not visible in Device Manager anywhere. I was able to get out of the predicament by going back to an earlier System Restore point after which Device Manager showed my video card as an unknown device in the Other section and I was able to do update driver, automatically search, it pulled in the NVidia driver off of Windows Updates again, and then Windows knew I had a GTX 580 and it showed up in Device Manager properly.

The Windows 8 Public preview has been released for the general public if you would like to grab the isos here are the links. Product Key: DNJXJ-7XBW8-2378T-X22TX-BKG7J English 64-bit (x64) Download (3.3 GB) Sha 1 hash — 1288519C5035BCAC83CBFA23A33038CCF5522749 32-bit (x86) Download (2.5 GB) Sha 1 hash — E91ED665B01A46F4344C36D9D88C8BF78E9A1B39 Chinese (Simplified) 64-bit (x64) Download (3.4 GB) Sha 1 hash — DF69B851F9A81DECBB16648CC452461894416EB0 32-bit (x86) Download (2.6 GB) Sha 1 hash — E29A2072745A48C14A1C2E5A61F5230841BEDB45 French 64-bit (x64) Download (3.3 GB) Sha 1 hash — A9358E6799ABEEF29EDBA054AD34849C02C7F51F 32-bit (x86) Download (2.5 GB) Sha 1 hash — 2EF8013B9F50B93AEAC8068F4827E2C1DC0DC0B1 German 64-bit (x64) Download (3.3 GB) Sha 1 hash — DB1003A47C266697B3832BE2A23319988EE34495 32-bit (x86) Download (2.5 GB) Sha 1 hash — 91075AEA665C5D6F42A24714B3A3390762C94457 Japanese 64-bit (x64) Download (3.3 GB) Sha 1 hash — A8F0DB12CAECEA0BE8B27EA124F2234212D9103A 32-bit (x86) Download (2.5 GB) Sha 1 hash — C8A322ED86058086207CAAECD46B4DDACF9E247A