Why are there separate Win2K and WinXP drivers?

[StormRider]

I thought WinXP was based on Win2K and used the same driver model. If this is true, why do I see companies release separate WinXP and Win2K drivers? Why can't they use the same drivers?

For example, I went on ATI's website and looked for Win2K and WinXP drivers for the aging Rage Pro. They have Win2K drivers for the Rage Pro that support the TV tuner on the ATI AIW Pro (based on the Rage Pro) and OpenGL. But for WinXP, they said the Rage Pro drivers do not support OpenGL, and the TV tuner on the ATI AIW Pro.

What's up with that?!?!

The last thing we need is to have different drivers for every new version of an OS. I thought the whole idea of WDM drivers was to be able to use the same drivers on WinME, Win98SE, Win2K and any future OS...

 

[AznMaverick]

i can't see how to get m2v to work, and i'm perplexed concerning the driver issue too.

 

[ViRGE]

Odds are that ATI deviated from the WDM; they started using non-WDM OS specific features to get it working. That would definately cause it to break under WinXP, since XP has enough differences as is. Besides, not everything can be made compatible; even Creative's 2K drivers for the SB Live are incompatible for WinXP.