Windows Driver Frameworks (WDF, formerly Windows Driver Foundation), is a set of Microsoft tools and libraries that aid in the creation of device drivers for Windows 2000 and later versions of Windows. It complements Windows Driver Model, abstracting away much of the boilerplate complexity in writing Windows drivers.

Quick Facts Other names, Developer(s) ...
Windows Driver Frameworks (WDF)
Other namesWindows Driver Foundation
Developer(s)Microsoft
Stable release
win-10.0.17763.1 / 24 March 2019; 5 years ago (2019-03-24)
Repository
Operating systemMicrosoft Windows
TypeDevelopment tool, application programming interface
LicenseMIT License[1]
Websitelearn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/wdf/ Edit this on Wikidata
Close

WDF consists of Kernel-Mode Driver Framework (KMDF) and User-Mode Driver Framework (UMDF).[2] These individual frameworks provide a new object-oriented programming model for Windows driver development. The primary goals of WDF is conceptual scalability and reduced duplication, enabling developers to apply the same concepts across different driver types and reducing the code overhead required for drivers. This differs markedly from the Windows Driver Model (WDM) which requires driver developers to be fully familiar with many complex technical details to write a basic driver.

Part of the key to achieving conceptual scalability is that KMDF and UMDF use an "opt-in" model. This model allows the developer to extend and override the default behavior of a canonical "good driver". In contrast, Windows Driver Model depends on the driver writer to implement all aspects of the driver's behavior.

Varieties

There are three types of WDF drivers:

WDF also includes a set of static verification tools for use by driver writers. These tools examine driver code for common errors and/or simulate the code of a driver in order to identify problems that are both difficult to detect and difficult to test for.

Versions

More information Operating system, KMDF 1.0 ...
KMDF version history[3]
Operating systemKMDF 1.0KMDF 1.1KMDF 1.5KMDF 1.7KMDF 1.9KMDF 1.11KMDF 1.13KMDF 1.15KMDF 1.17KMDF 1.19KMDF 1.21KMDF 1.23KMDF 1.25KMDF 1.27KMDF 1.29KMDF 1.31 KMDF 1.33
Windows 11 yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes
Windows 10 2004yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes -
Windows 10 1903yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes- -
Windows 10 1809yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes-- -
Windows 10 1803yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes--- -
Windows 10 1709yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes---- -
Windows 10 1703yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes----- -
Windows 10 1607yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes------ -
Windows 10 1511yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes------- -
Windows 10yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes-------- -
Windows 8.1yesyesyesyesyesyesyes--------- -
Windows 8yesyesyesyesyesyes---------- -
Windows 7yesyesyesyesyesyes---------- -
Windows Server 2008yesyesyesyesyesyes---------- -
Windows Vistayesyesyesyesyesyes---------- -
Windows Server 2003yesyesyesyesyes----------- -
Windows XPyesyesyesyesyes----------- -
Windows 2000-yesyesyes------------ -
Close
More information Operating system, UMDF 1.5 ...
UMDF version history[4]
Operating systemUMDF 1.5UMDF 1.7UMDF 1.9UMDF 1.11UMDF 2.0UMDF 2.15UMDF 2.17UMDF 2.19UMDF 2.21UMDF 2.23UMDF 2.25UMDF 2.27UMDF 2.29UMDF 2.31 UMDF 2.33
Windows 11 yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes
Windows 10 2004yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes -
Windows 10 1903yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes- -
Windows 10 1809yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes-- -
Windows 10 1803yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes--- -
Windows 10 1709yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes---- -
Windows 10 1703yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes----- -
Windows 10 1607yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes------ -
Windows 10 1511yesyesyesyesyesyesyes------- -
Windows 10 1507yesyesyesyesyesyes-------- -
Windows 8.1yesyesyesyesyes--------- -
Windows 8yesyesyesyes---------- -
Windows 7yesyesyesyes---------- -
Windows Server 2008yesyesyesyes---------- -
Windows Vistayesyesyesyes---------- -
Windows Server 2003yesyesyes----------- -
Windows XPyesyesyes----------- -
Windows 2000-yesyes----------- -
Close

Bold "Yes" means introduced with this version of Windows.

See also

References

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