DevCon:Driver Signing

Last session of the day. My brain hurts from that last one. Way to fast, covering way to much stuff. Thats definitely not a complaint, just an observation. Walking to this session I watched the hordes stuff themselves with a buffet of gummy bears and cheese nips. Would sucks to be on a low carb diet/lifestyle in this place if you have no self control. Free pop all over the place, as well as little goodies like candies, cakes and junk food. Luckily I have no real cravings and I was smart enough to bring my own carb-free snacks.

Now to the driver signing.

Windows Server 2003 takes the foundation of digital signatures for drivers in XP (the WHQL signature) and expand on that with new Authenticode mechanisms for drivers that don't fit into a WHQL logo program. This presentation take a lot of the information I heard in the "How to Logo a new Cool Invention" presentation I listened to in the morning and re-enforce it. And it should, it was the same presenter.

You know, I now have a lot more respect for the "Designed for Windows" logo that some drivers have. I never understood the quality assurance tests and requirements needed to get that thing. Its a really good seal of quality for products that adhere to the requirements Microsoft has for compatibility with their operating systems. I just thought it was kind of a cash-grab for Microsoft... you send some money with your driver and you get a signed driver back. WRONG. Its much more than that, and I am glad. It's hard sometimes to use the words quality and Microsoft in the same sentence, but I was pleased to see how much effort Microsoft puts into the WHQL.

There was an excellent demo on how to properly get a driver signed. This was refreshing compared to all the sessions, since I actually got to see someone do it instead of just show the output in Powerpoint. They built a driver on stage, then used some pre done tests/reports to show how to use the output to submit the proper information to WHQL.

Kinda nice.