If you have been frustrated because your laptop OEM has not released a GPU driver update in a long time, today Intel has some good news for you.

They have decoupled their graphics drivers from OEM customizations, meaning you can update your graphics driver even if your OEM has not approved the driver.

Intel writes:

Unlocked drivers: We heard how much our users want the freedom to upgrade their systems to our regularly released generic graphics drivers and enable our latest game enhancements, feature updates, and fixes. As of this release, Intel Graphics DCH drivers are now unlocked to upgrade freely between Computer Manufacturer (OEM) drivers and the Intel generic graphics drivers on Download Center. Simply use the exe and enjoy the update on your 6th Generation Intel Processor platform or higher, and don’t worry about your OEM customizations–they remain intact with each upgrade and the OEMs can maintain customizations separately via Microsoft* Windows Update.

Intel warns however that OEM drivers are handpicked, customized, and validated to resolve platform-specific issues, enable features and enhancements, and improve system stability, and overwriting them with generic drivers may lead to issues. Intel suggests reverting to OEM drivers if at all possible.

Intel will also unlock Drivers and Support Assistant drivers starting April 28th, 2020.

Read more and find download links for the drivers at Intel here.

via the WC