ATI con una press release rende noto che è il primo produttore a rendere disponibili i driver di supporto 64-bit per la beta 1 del nuovo sistema operativo Windows Vista, la cui uscita è prevista per il 3 Agosto 2005.
Il supporto dei nuovi driver risponde pienamente al Longhorn Driver Display Model(LDDM), lo standard grafico introdotto con Windows Vista e che comporterà  un rivoluzionario approccio grafico all’interfaccia del sistema operativo, interamente effettuato in grafica 3D, e quindi abbandonando le ormai vetuste librerie GDI che fin da Windows 3.xx hanno accompagnato lo sviluppo del comparto grafico del nostro Desktop. Il nuovo approccio sfrutterà  le capacitè  di accelerazione grafica 3D ormai consolidate nei chip grafici moderni, aprendo nuovi scenari anche per la grafica web di Internet.
Di seguito la press release:

MARKHAM/ Munich, Germany – July 28, 2003 – ATI Technologies Inc., (TSX: ATY, NASDAQ:ATYT), today announced broad Catalyst(tm) graphics driver support for the beta 1 release of the Microsoft Windows Vista(tm) operating system. With its latest Catalyst driver releases, ATI is one of the first graphics providers to make a 64-bit driver that supports the Longhorn Driver Display Model (LDDM)-the Microsoft Vista revolutionary graphics driver standard-as well as the first to provide LDDM drivers for integrated graphics processors.

Microsoft Windows Vista will make extensive use of 3D graphics for the desktop. ATI’s support of beta 1 enables the developer community to write a new class of visually stunning applications for the new operating system. By making LDDM drivers available more than a full year prior to Windows Vista release, ATI provides developers with a stable, feature-enabled and
performance-optimized platform for application development.

“We are happy to see ATI’s commitment to developing a Windows Vista graphics driver,” said Chris Donahue, Group Manager, Windows Graphics & Gaming Technology team at Microsoft Corp. “Users of Windows Vista advanced 3D capabilities will enjoy the premium experience of a high quality, high performance and stable GPU driver. ATI’s substantial investment in Windows Vista has resulted in tremendous progress on driver development, including the delivery of broad device support, full 64-bit compatibility and excellent performance.”

Included with Microsoft’s Windows Vista beta 1 release are ATI’s Catalyst drivers for its desktop and mobile DirectX 9 class discrete graphics processors as well as support for the 64-bit version of Microsoft Windows Vista. Additionally, ATI also is making available today on its website a further Catalyst LDDM driver which includes all of the functionality mentioned above plus support for integrated graphics processors in Windows Vista.

“ATI is providing broad graphics driver support to Microsoft and the MSDN community for all ATI DirectX 9 hardware in Microsoft Windows Vista beta 1,” said Ben Bar-Haim, Vice President of Software Engineering, ATI Technologies. “ATI is proud to point out we have more Windows Vista in-the-box driver support than any other independent hardware vendor”.

A long-time supporter of Microsoft’s DirectX 9 application