[fuzzy2]

Sure the OS handles drivers. However, nearly all USB peripherals we use every day are 100% standardized – or at least their core functions. USB HID Class, USB Audio Class, USB Video Class.

Three things have special drivers (on Windows) in my current setup: The various USB controllers (inside the laptop and the Thunderbolt dock), the USB Ethernet controller in the Thunderbolt dock and the Bluetooth controller. That’s it. Keyboard, mouse, webcam, audio, even my wireless headset: All generic drivers.

This all means the devices themselves must implement the appropriate abstraction on top of their specific hardware.

[0cf8612b2e1e]

> Keyboard, mouse, webcam, audio, even my wireless headset: All generic drivers.

Not if the vendors have their way. I plugged in an external Logitech mouse to my locked-down, corporate, non-admin permissions laptop only to see Windows automatically install a Logitech mouse utility. Not entirely sure what it does, but it also added a constantly running Logitech update service.

Given the strong security track record of hardware companies, I am sure it is fine that they get to automatically install software without any approval from me.

[fuzzy2]

That’s something slightly different though. Microsoft had this crappy idea that drivers are no longer just drivers but instead you’ll also get all the usermode software you never wanted automatically.

IIRC you cannot disable this behavior without entirely disabling driver installs/updates from Windows Update.

The mouse itself would still work without it.