[wdmaudiodev] Re: Changing default audio device in Windows 7.
- From: Tim Roberts <timr@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: wdmaudiodev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:30:01 -0700
AI Developer wrote:
>
> Having said that, I would like to propose that Microsoft provides
> documented ways to do at least two of the following:
>
> a. Change the default audio device.
> b. Change the format used by the audio device.
>
> I think it would be perfectly okay to restrict access to these APIs to
> admin. privileged users.
But that's not the point. The user ALREADY has the ability to set the
default audio device. What you want is a way for your APPLICATION to
change the default audio device.
The basic issue here is one of philosophy, not technology: Who should be
in charge of the user experience? Should it be the user, or should it
be the applications? With the Vista audio design, Microsoft has chosen
to put the user in charge of the user audio experience. Whether or not
I agree with that decision (and I'm not sure I do), I understand
completely where it came from. You, like most device folks, are focused
on your device. For you, it is the most important thing in your
computer, and you want to believe that is the case for everyone who uses it.
Further, you are focused on making your device work in the two or three
test case machines you have at your disposal. You aren't really
thinking about the untold millions of different audio software and
hardware combinations out there, many of which would not make sense with
your design. Microsoft HAS to worry about those millions of design
combinations. As Spock told us, the needs of the many outweigh the
needs of the few.
If they opened up the APIs for your case, then the APIs will be
available for EVERY case. Once that happened, driver writers would
start abusing them again, resulting in mass confusion for the general
public, leading to the end-user grumbling that led Microsoft to make
this change in the first place.
--
Tim Roberts, timr@xxxxxxxxx
Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.
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