Introduction
There are generally two big pushes in the video card world; the first is the release of new hardware and secondly, the release of updated drivers. The common thread between the two is that they usually mark increased performance which excites both users and vendors. One area that has seen neglect however is usability. With the plethora of options available with regards to video card settings, it is becoming more essential that features remain accessible to the end user. Nvidia has made a big push in this direction in the last few months, notably with the introduction of Forceware 56.56. Today however, we focus on ATI's effort in updating their driver software and we take a look at their Catalyst Control Center (CCC), possibly their largest leap in driver development since the introduction of the Catalyst Unified Driver model.
Here's ATI's take on the CCC:
The CATALYST Control Center revolutionizes how users interact with their graphics software through an intuitive design and significant new feature set. This interface allows users to easily configure and increase their productivity when using an ATI graphics accelerator.
The CATALYST Control Center architecture allows developers and end-users to easily customize the CATALYST Control Center from both a cosmetic and feature- design perspective. Using the CATALYST Control Center Software Developers Kit (SDK), developers are able to create new skins, develop new features, or even design a completely customized user interface.
A Look at The Current ATI Catalyst Drivers
We take an abbreviated view of ATI's current driver control panel.
The tray icon menu
The 3D Menu
A few comments about the menu layout. The tray icon menus are too obfuscated. Getting to the main driver control center should be a top level icon. In the actual control panel portion of the driver interface, I was never a really big fan of multiple rows of tabs in any application. I find that when the row positions change it is awkward at times to move back and forth between different tabs. While the ATI control panel is functional, the navigation could have used a bit of work as it is overly complicated.
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