Windows Display Driver Model White Paper on MSDN

Early last month I wrote about the new Windows Standard theme in newer builds of Windows Vista and provided a few screen shots of what it looks like. In that post I mentioned the WDDM, or Windows Display Driver Model, a new display architecture that's part of what gives Windows Aero its visual appeal. The WDDM makes high-end video possible on PCs in ways that it previously wasn't by allowing for, among other things, GPU multi-tasking. While certainly put through their paces in the gaming, HD, CAD and video production arenas, GPUs have historically been under-utilized on the whole and not as central to PC design as they could be. All that changes in Windows Vista, where the GPU becomes an integral part of everyday graphics rendering processes.

Anyway, because this is such a fascinating and timely topic, we just last week released an MSDN white paper on the WDDM, so I encourage you to check it out to learn more.