Microsoft bringing two big changes to hardware drivers for next gen Windows 11

Alongside new test capabilities for Windows 11 24H2 and Server 2025, Microsoft shared news about two other significant changes regarding Windows hardware driver development earlier today. First, the company has announced the deprecation of Windows Device metadata and the Windows Metadata and Internet Services (WMIS).

In a new blog post, Microsoft has explained:

Device metadata and the Windows Metadata and Internet Services (WMIS) are being retired as of May 2025, and no new packages will be delivered to Windows clients via WMIS. In Partner Center, device metadata experiences cannot be created, modified, or promoted. New device metadata submissions will fail. Existing device metadata packages on Windows clients will remain on the client.

 

Between now and December 2025, partners can continue to use Partner Center to view and download previously signed device metadata packages.

For those wondering what it is, device metadata, as the name suggests, is the collection of additional, user-facing information that an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) provides about a hardware device. The feature was introduced with Windows 7 and can include stuff like icons, logos, descriptive texts, among other things, that help the Windows UI display details about such devices in places like Task Manager or Device Manager. The metadata is presented via an XML file.

Going forward, Microsoft recommends using the INF instead, which are setup information files for driver packages. You can find the details here on the official Tech Community blog post.

Alongside the upcoming death of Device metadata and the Windows Metadata and Internet Services (WMIS), Microsoft has also announced changes for pre-production driver signing. Microsoft says that the current driver signing CA (certificate authority) or PCA 2010 is set to expire next month in June 2025.

Microsoft has explained the timeline of events:

The CA that is used to sign the binaries for use in pre-production environments on the Windows Hardware Program is set to expire in July 2025, following which a new CA will be used to sign the preproduction content starting June 9, 2025. There are some important points that partners must take notice of, following this change:

 

• Going forward, the expiry of the signed content will not be tied to the expiry of the underlying CA. This means that any pre-production driver signed after June 9, 2025, will not come with an expiry date. This is unlike today, where preproduction content expires along with the expiration of the certificate that signed it.
• Drivers signed before June 9, 2025, will expire on July 6, 2025, as is the current model.
• April 22, 2025, May 13, 2025, and June 10, 2025 - Windows servicing releases (4D/5B/6B) ship to in-market platforms (down to Windows Server 2008) to remap existing CAs to their new CAs in WDAC/Application Control for Business policies. Partners must make sure to install these Latest Cumulative updates (LCUs) to add trust for the new preproduction signer (Microsoft Windows Component Preproduction CA 2024) to the kernel.

You can find the details here on the official Microsoft Tech Community blog post.

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