Following a declaration that it would stop releasing GeForce graphics card drivers for 32-bit operating systems, which came at the end of last year, Nvidia has confirmed that support will officially cease before the end of April.
This affects 32-bit versions of Windows 7, 8/8.1 and 10, as well as Linux and FreeBSD, although important security fixes will continue to be provided running through to the beginning of next year.
Nvidia noted that: “Game Ready Driver upgrades, including performance enhancements, new features, and bug fixes, will be available only on 64-bit operating systems. Critical security updates will be provided for 32-bit operating systems through January 2019.”
Legacy laggards
Of course, these days most folks are running 64-bit operating systems anyway, but if you have an Nvidia graphics card, and you still happen to be using a 32-bit OS for whatever reason – maybe you’re running legacy hardware with old drivers that won’t play nice with a 64-bit operating system – then obviously you need to think about an upgrade to your OS, and perhaps your hardware itself.
Making the move to 64-bit will be a boon in many ways, not just in terms of Nvidia’s drivers, but all-round on the security front. It should also allow you to gain likely considerable performance benefits from 64-bit software.
- These are the best graphics cards you can buy in 2018
