[throwatdem12311]

Installing drivers and software for connected hardware is just something Windows has done through Windows update for a long time.

Is this a good practice? I don’t really know. We used to get drivers on CDs, but barely anyone has a drive on their computer anymore. You could download them from the vendor website but these are usually a mess and very difficult to navigate to find the right thing — impossible for your grandma.

Could do like Linux and just build trusted software right into the kernel - but then people will complain about bloat.

So we are where we are. I guess.

[frollogaston]

It's pretty rare nowadays to need drivers for specific hardware that ordinary people are going to plug in. Maybe printers are the unfortunate exception.

[dist-epoch]

Windows already ships with gigabytes of drivers. This is why you can plug most popular hardware on an offline Windows and it will work.