New NVIDIA driver is WHQL-certified.

NVIDIA releases the new GeForce 186.18 drivers with numerous bug fixes.

The company claims that updating to the new driver will fix numerous bugs, most of which address applications supported on the Microsoft Windows XP 32-bit. This also comes with NVIDIA’s new PhysX system, version 9.09.0428, that will provide the users with an enhanced visual experience in some of the recent gaming experiences.

The new GeForce 186.18 is WHQL-certified and supports GeForce 6,7,8,9,100 and 200 series of GPUs and Ion GPUs.

New in Release 185/186 drivers:

    * Has support for CUDA 2.2 for improved performance in GPU Computing applications.

    * Expands GPU hardware acceleration for the NVIDIA Video Encoding library to GPUs with less than 32 cores. Applications using this library include CyberLink PowerDirector 7, Nero Move it 1.5, Loilo SuperLoiloScope MARS, and CyberLink MediaShow Espresso.

    * Accelerates performance in several 3D applications. The following are examples of improvements measured by the company with Release 185/186 drivers vs. Release 182 drivers. You can of course expect a little variation depending on your system configuration.

          o Up to 25% performance increase in The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena

          o Up to 22% performance increase in Crysis: Warhead with antialiasing enabled

          o Up to 11% performance increase in Fallout 3 with antialiasing enabled

          o Up to 14% performance increase in Far Cry 2

          o Up to 30% performance increase in Half-Life 2 engine games with 3-way and 4-way SLI

          o Up to 45% performance increase in Mirror’s Edge with antialiasing enabled

    * Supports GeForce Plus Power Pack #3.

The new driver also reportedly fixes many bugs under the Windows 7 OS environment.

To download, go here.

WHQL

Windows Hardware Quality Labs or WHQL Testing is Microsoft's testing process which involves running a series of tests on third-party hardware or software, and then submitting the results to Microsoft for review. Products qualified the WHQL tests get a "Certified for Windows" logotype, which certifies that the hardware or software has had some share of testing by Microsoft to ensure compatibility.

The Windows Logo Program should help the partners to innovate and bring a premium experience to market, thereby improving their ability to increase market share. Also it gives that addition push in genuinely in consumer’s mind.