AMD is making some big changes in its graphics business. First it created the Radeon Technologies Group and appointed Raja Koduri as senior vice president and chief architect of the group, and then earlier today, the company launched the first iteration of the Radeon Software Crimson driver package. Radeon Software Crimson has received much media attention, but another announcement was made by AMD today that likely affects more than a few of our readers.
The affected products include AMD Radeon HD 8400 and lower 8000-series cards, and Radeon HD 7600 and below. The entire line of Radeon HD 5000 and HD 6000 cards have also been added to the legacy support list.
AMD said that it has released an "As is" beta version of Radeon Software Crimson that will work with these cards, but there will be no further updates for this driver. AMD said the Crimson Beta was released as a courtesy to its valued customers so they can use the new interface, but the last WHQL driver for these products is Catalyst Software Suite 15.7.1, which was released in late July, and there won't be any further updates to the Crimson beta for legacy hardware.
The beta version of Radeon Software Crimson that supports the HD 5000 series and up is available from AMD's website.
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