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 NT. It complements Windows Driver Model, abstracting away much of the boilerplate complexity in writing Windows drivers. Windows Vista and later are included WDF natively; for Windows 2000 and Windows XP, the WDF update is available.

WDF consists of Kernel-Mode Driver Framework (KMDF) and User-Mode Driver Framework (UMDF). 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

KMDF version history
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 1.31KMDF 1.33
Windows 11, 21H2CompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleBuilt-in
Windows 10, 2004CompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleBuilt-in—N/a
Windows 10, 1903CompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleBuilt-in—N/a—N/a
Windows 10, 1809CompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleBuilt-in—N/a—N/a—N/a
Windows 10, 1803CompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleBuilt-in—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a
Windows 10, 1709CompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleBuilt-in—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a
Windows 10, 1703CompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleBuilt-in—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a
Windows 10, 1607CompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleBuilt-in—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a
Windows 10, 1511CompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleBuilt-in—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a
Windows 10, 1507CompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleBuilt-in—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a
Windows 8.1CompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleBuilt-in—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a
Windows 8CompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleBuilt-in—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a
Windows 7CompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleBuilt-inUpdate—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a
Windows Server 2008CompatibleCompatibleCompatibleBuilt-inUpdateUpdate—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a
Windows VistaCompatibleCompatibleBuilt-inUpdateUpdateUpdate—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a
Windows Server 2003CompatibleUpdateUpdateUpdateUpdate—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a
Windows XPUpdateUpdateUpdateUpdateUpdate—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a
Windows 2000UpdateUpdateUpdateUpdate—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a
UMDF version history
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 2.31UMDF 2.33
Windows 11, 21H2CompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleBuilt-in
Windows 10, 2004CompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleBuilt-in—N/a
Windows 10, 1903CompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleBuilt-in—N/a—N/a
Windows 10, 1809CompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleBuilt-in—N/a—N/a—N/a
Windows 10, 1803CompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleBuilt-in—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a
Windows 10, 1709CompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleBuilt-in—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a
Windows 10, 1703CompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleBuilt-in—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a
Windows 10, 1607CompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleBuilt-in—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a
Windows 10, 1511CompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleBuilt-in—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a
Windows 10, 1507CompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleBuilt-in—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a
Windows 8.1CompatibleCompatibleCompatibleCompatibleBuilt-in—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a
Windows 8CompatibleCompatibleCompatibleBuilt-in—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a
Windows 7CompatibleCompatibleBuilt-inUpdate—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a
Windows Server 2008CompatibleBuilt-inUpdateUpdate—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a
Windows Vista SP1CompatibleBuilt-inUpdateUpdate—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a
Windows VistaBuilt-inUpdateUpdateUpdate—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a
Windows Server 2003UpdateUpdateUpdate—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a
Windows XPUpdateUpdateUpdate—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a—N/a

See also

External links

  • by Orwick and Smith
  • , including many articles about WDF, KMDF, and Windows driver development
  • at the Wayback Machine (archived 2016-01-25), written by well-known Windows driver developer, Walter Oney
  • , CodeProject
  • , CodeProject
  • , A Windows File System Filter Driver Framework