Various manufacturers seem to think that squeezing more GPUs into desktop or notebook systems is the way to attract the enthusiast market. Microsoft, however, believes that two-or-more GPUs just ain't all that.
At WinHec 2008 in Los Angeles, Microsoft made available a document entitled Guidelines for Graphics in Windows 7 and there's one particular section that'll bring frowns to the faces of both NVIDIA and AMD.
According to the document, Microsoft's forthcoming Windows 7 operating system won't offer native support for hybrid graphics. Furthermore, the software giant will be advising system manufacturers to avoid utilising such technology, stating that it results in an unstable system that provides a poor user experience. The relevant section reads:
"A hybrid graphics system typically has two GPUs: a low-power, fairly low-performance integrated GPU and a second high-power, higher performance discrete GPU.
The integrated GPU is typically used when long battery life is desired, and the discrete GPU is used when battery life is not important or when higher performance is required. Such systems require a reboot to switch between GPUs.
Windows 7 does not offer native support for hybrid graphics systems. We strongly discourage system manufacturers from shipping such systems, which can be unstable and provide a poor user experience."
It's becoming increasingly common for notebooks to feature an IGP and discrete GPU combination, but it's a trend that Microsoft is hoping to change, and it may have a point. At present, a notebook equipped with an IGP and a dedicated GPU has the advantage of switching between the two to save battery life. However, it could be argued that the savings don't warrant the use of complex technology that results in larger and more expensive systems.
Despite NVIDIA and AMD pushing multi-GPUs as the best thing in graphics, a HEXUS poll earlier this year found that SLI and CrossFire configurations remain a niche solution with very few readers showing any intent to use multi-GPU technology in the near future.
Microsoft, it seems, believes that better-optimised single-GPU solutions that are capable of throttling performance on-the-fly as required, are the way forward. Opportunity knocks for Intel's Larrabee, perhaps.
