Microsoft not too long ago pushed some pretty main updates associated to Home windows {hardware} help.

First, the corporate introduced new HLK and VHLK releases for Could 2025. For many who is probably not acquainted, HLK or {hardware} lab equipment updates assist {hardware} distributors take a look at their {hardware} for Home windows as a way to fine-tune driver software program compatibility and efficiency points. You may learn in regards to the newest launch on this devoted article right here.

Alongside that, Microsoft additionally introduced the deprecation of Home windows Machine metadata and the Home windows Metadata and Web Companies (WMIS).

Machine metadata is the gathering of extra, user-facing info that an OEM supplies a couple of {hardware} system. The function was launched with Home windows 7 and may embody stuff like icons, logos, descriptive texts, amongst different issues, that assist the Home windows UI show particulars about such gadgets in locations like Activity Supervisor or Machine Supervisor, amongst different locations.

The corporate will seemingly deal with all this otherwise going ahead as making modifications to them is actually vital provided that specs reporting nonetheless want updates and enhancements once in a while as within the case of RAM velocity.

On the subject of {hardware} knowledge and the spec particulars offered on Home windows, Microsoft’s Raymond Chen at present in his The Outdated New Factor column, revealed the fascinating cause as to why Home windows usually presents two separate clock speeds for a processor on the System “About” web page throughout the Settings app which supplies hardware-related info about your system (duh!!!).

Microsoft not too long ago up to date the About web page with an FAQ part because it now tries to reply some primary questions on a PC spec that customers might have.

Concerning the twin CPU velocity reporting, Chen explains that it’s a results of counting on one thing fairly “unreliable,” CPUID operate codes. Thus, Home windows really simply guesses what the speeds of the processor are from the code because it tries to report a real-time worth for the clock frequency spec.

This may occasionally clarify why we get reviews of misrepresented Activity Supervisor specs for a few of the {hardware}.

Chen provides that the second clock velocity knowledge Home windows exhibits is included by the {hardware} vendor themselves as a part of the processor info (by way of the processor model string). This clock is what the bottom (and/or increase) velocity the producer meant to run the CPU at, and it is a static worth that doesn’t change.

Processor	Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4790 CPU @ 3.60GHz	3.71GHz
	Processor model string	Velocity

This info can be seen on Activity Supervisor, MSINFO32 and DXDIAG. You may learn Raymond Chen’s new weblog publish right here on Microsoft’s web site.