Microsoft releases the Windows Driver Kit (WDK) NuGet, allowing developers to create drivers

Microsoft wants to improve the development of Windows drivers by providing Windows Driver Kit (WDK) NuGet, which aims to make it easier and more efficient for driver developers. In a recent blog post, the company says Windows Driver Kit (WDK) offers various benefits over traditional MSI and ISO file formats, like smaller size, better portability, and improved integration with continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines.

Microsoft’s Windows Driver Kit is all about making developers’ lives easier. It’s not just about updating a tool; it’s changing how drivers for Windows are developed by providing WDK as a NuGet package. The size of the NuGet package is now much smaller, making it faster to download and set up. Also, its portability feature has improved greatly, allowing developers to work on various machines and environments without issues.

Microsoft has given a detailed step-by-step guide for installing WDK through NuGet. This process is simple and starts with the installation of Visual Studio 2022. The next sections walk developers through getting Visual Studio ready with needed components and installing the WDK Visual Studio extension. This careful method ensures even beginners in driver development can join without being too much on them.

The WDK NuGet is especially exciting because of its integration abilities. This new format matches the agile release model well for developers who work in big CI/CD pipelines and source control systems. It lets them make fast updates to get the newest features and corrections.

The public can access the WDK NuGet on nuget.org. It provides both the newest and old versions of this package. For people who wish to build their initial driver project, Microsoft has made thorough documentation available on Microsoft Learn. This learning resource is very helpful as it assists developers in every step, from setting up to more advanced topics after installation.

Microsoft is also trying to improve the developer experience through Visual Studio. With WDK becoming a separate workload in Visual Studio, updating and handling the WDK NuGet package will become easier.

We are also working on improving the developer experience while developing their driver projects from Visual Studio by adding WDK as a Visual Studio individual workload. This will make it easier to install and update the WDK NuGet package from the Visual Studio installer.

Microsoft

The arrival of the WDK NuGet package is a big improvement in Windows driver development. Its size reduction, improved portability, and easier integration with CI/CD pipelines will all likely have substantial effects.

Whether you are an experienced developer or starting new work in this field, Microsoft’s latest tool seems ready to simplify and improve things for everyone involved.