Why is standard sound mixer on W11 worse than XP !!!!

glasskuter said:

Way back early in Win10 days, I remember jumping through hoops to get the Realtek control app back. Even then, the only way I was finally able to do it was to use a very old Realtek driver package (a Windows 7 driver) that included the app. This tells me the problem is not in Windows 11 but that Realtek abandoned development of the app when Windows 10 came out (8 years ago) They are only developing the drivers now. Some manufacturers like Dell took the Realtek driver and packaged it with their own audio control panel app (Dell Audio) to give their buyers an audio control panel. On the newer systems I've seen Dell no longer does this either.

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Hi,
Think I tried win-7 driver and it gave me the not compatible with this version of windows on install.

Realtek had to do a UI change is why it had to be from store
You can install win-10 version on 10 or 11 version on 11 all day long and until you get the realtek console off store you're never going to see the realtek equalizer/...

I found it off startpage search with just realtek driver ms store so yeah ms store search is really really... bad I used realtek ... and didn't get crap
You have to use the entire freaking name realtek audio control before the sucker shows up

Heads up, there appears to be something janky going on with Windows Store. I had to wait hours on another PC before the Windows Store app got installed. The event log kept reporting an installation failure too, until hours later!

The real problem is that Microsoft tries to write drivers, all that they need to do is create an interface that goes to the companies websites and uses their drivers.

If Linux allows the user to choose if they want to use the drivers written by the Linux community or to use the proprietary driver, where available, there's no reason for Microsoft not to do the same.

And yes, I realize that some basic drivers need to be built into the OS itself for the computer to work, but on first update the manufacturers own drivers should be available through Windows Update for the end users to apply if wanted.

Thomas4 said:

The real problem is that Microsoft tries to write drivers, all that they need to do is create an interface that goes to the companies websites and uses their drivers.

If Linux allows the user to choose if they want to use the drivers written by the Linux community or to use the proprietary driver, where available, there's no reason for Microsoft not to do the same.

And yes, I realize that some basic drivers need to be built into the OS itself for the computer to work, but on first update the manufacturers own drivers should be available through Windows Update for the end users to apply if wanted.

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Microsoft asks hardware developers to submit drivers to them for testing and approval, if the drivers pass they are included in the Windows driver database and made available through Windows Update at some point.

The testing takes time so the version available from MS is often a month or more behind the version from the manufacturer as the manufacturer only has to deal with their own drivers, not the 1000's submitted daily to MS for approval/ testing.

Most hardware of a certain function (such as WiFi, LAN, display hardware) works in at least a basic way which is why you can get, for example, a POST screen on a machine with almost any display hardware regardless of intended OS.

MS includes drivers for the most common hardware fitted across a range of machines based on this basic functionality or through including supplied manufacturers drivers. Considering the vast array of possible hardware combinations and the need to include support for both new and legacy hardware all versions of Windows have managed to provide almost miraculous support over the years.

MS does in fact supply hardware manufacturers with a set of guidelines on how to write drivers that work with Windows, from using GUI aspects to playing nice with security and rules about how to avoid interfering with the kernal layer if not absolutely required.
It is down to the manufacturers to make aspects of their hardware beyond basic functions available through their drivers.

I should imagine for the most part MS adopt the point of view that if the hardware works upon installation then leave it alone and let the user decide whether to pursue updates, beyond discovered issues with install time drivers that need addressing, this is probably the best choice for such a large user base of the OS which for the most part consists of buisinesses which rely on a working system to run.

This may come over as a pro Microsoft post, it isn't, but to expect an OS developer to write drivers for every possible piece of computer hardware available and to keep all those drivers up to date is naive at best, so blaming the OS developer for every change to driver functionality from release to release is also naive.

DigitalGoat said:

to expect an OS developer to write drivers for every possible piece of computer hardware available and to keep all those drivers up to date is naive at best....blaming the OS developer for every change to driver functionality from release to release is also naive.

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Amen. But is's a common expectation on this forum and across the web. Unlike Apple who uses proprietary hardware, Microsoft's primary business is software and only software. (except for their foray into the Surface which there is only a very small percentage of Windows users using). I'm not being a MS fangirl here but these complainers blame EVERYTHING on MS when it's the OEMs who choose what hardware they put in their products. It's the responsibility of the OEMs and the manufacturers of those components to make sure everything works and continues to work for a reasonable amount of support time with whatever OS the OEMs put on their machines.

With Explorer Patcher you can get the old sound mixer back:

BUT, you're forgetting one small thing. Microsoft PAYS companies that use only their OS, so what Microsoft has to do is get them all to use a basic standard protocol to their driver base, so the instead of forcing every user to go to every hardware manufacturer and download the newest drivers individually from them. And, yes to the smaller companies this may be a financial strain and can be excused.

I understand that Microsoft themselves is incapable of doing this by themselves and that there is no practical way they can keep the base OS up-to date with the latest and greatest hardware, nor should they even attempt to do so, but having a gateway THROUGH their OS would be a step forward.

And while lthe large companies do have applications for their user base, I don't see the ROI.