Windows 7 Already Has All the Drivers You Need - No, not really.

With the release of each successive new Microsoft operating system, from the most recent Windows 8 going back to at least Windows 2000, the same old argument is proclaimed; namely that the operating system already contains all the required drivers for all hardware components.

Arguably, with Microsoft’s release of each new operating system, new drivers are included in the Inbox Driver Store and can increasingly, successfully avoid initial problems with BSOD, “missing” drivers, and other common 1st-run issues.

But here’s what you should know. The drivers included in the Inbox Driver Store native to the OS are by and large generic drivers, or at the very least, antiquated versions of drivers that are several revisions old. While the generic/old driver may install and “activate” the individual hardware components, interoperability with the operating system and certainly feature richness for that hardware may be impacted or altogether missing.

For example, the new Microsoft Surface™ includes a driver for the Intel HD 4000™ graphics chipset which, in fact, is discovered and installed allowing the device to operate. That said, there is noticeable performance increase when using the official, up to date driver from Intel including access to more features native to the hardware relating to frame rate and power saving technology (improving battery life), which may be considered paramount to the usefulness of such a portable device.

Also, on many platforms including the Surface, there is a noticeable improvement to SSD disk access (random and/or sequential reads and writes) when using Intel's AHCI drivers (iastor) over Microsoft's AHCI drivers (msahci).

Furthermore, in many instances the generic drivers include no OEM customization software, typically represented as a system tray icon (and easily disabled). The Microsoft drivers include no access to customization software.

So overall, the native Inbox Driver Store will in fact get the associated hardware to operate with rudimentary functionality. But such generic drivers will not allow the machine to take full advantage of the hardware to which they’re associated, and represent a potentially significant opportunity lost on a substantial capital business investment.

So, does Microsoft include all of the drivers you need?  Well no, not really.