Driverit

Driverit (singular driveri) are software components in Finnish computing that allow the operating system to communicate with hardware devices. They implement the interface through which the OS requests from and receives data from hardware such as graphics cards, network adapters, storage controllers, printers, and USB devices. A driver translates generic OS operations into device-specific commands, manages device resources, handles interrupts, and enforces safety and isolation where possible. Without proper driverit, hardware may be present but non-functional or unstable.

Driverit can operate in different privilege levels: kernel-mode drivers run with full access to the system and are responsible for low-level hardware interaction; user-mode drivers run in separate processes to reduce risk. Modern operating systems organize drivers in families or models, such as Windows drivers (using WDM or KMDF/UMDF), Linux kernel modules, and macOS I/O Kit drivers. Hardware vendors often supply official driverit, while open-source communities may provide community drivers or, in Linux, the bulk of drivers is integrated into the kernel.

Drivers are updated to fix bugs, improve performance, add support for new hardware, or enable security patches. Device compatibility and driver signing requirements vary by OS; generic or universal drivers can provide basic functionality but may lack performance features. Troubleshooting driver issues typically involves updating, rolling back, reinstalling, or using vendor-provided diagnostics.