Compared to both Intel on the CPU side and Nvidia on the graphics side, AMD has always been lacking in the software department. Hopefully they can fix that now that they're making some money.
Despite this, I find it monumentally easier to get drivers and software of AMD's website, compared to Intel.
And then there's also "Intel is Removing End of Life Drivers and BIOS Downloads"[0]. Great, if I didn't save them, I need to go to a 3rd party site, run the risk of getting malware, have to compare hashes, etc, etc, etc... This is, in my opinion, an absolute no-go as a vendor, and instantly makes me want to drop them. Which I did, all the PCs my clients get from me are AMD systems now.
AMD is a serious vendor, you can even get the old ATI RAGE drivers off their website.
EDIT: The linked tweet[1] in the article mirrors my sentiments on this topic almost perfectly:
> "DEAR COMPANIES THAT MAKE HARDWARE:
YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO HOST YOUR DRIVERS UNTIL THE SUN EXPLODES OR YOU GO OUT OF BUSINESS, NOT UNTIL YOU GET TIRED OF HOSTING 20 MEGABYTES"
AMD is a classical hardware manufacturer in that they don't respect software as an equal partner in modern hardware development, despite the fact that their core competency is making general purpose computers. It's not a capital issue, it's a cultural one.
That said, AMD (and Intel) have reinvented themselves several times with pretty big cultural shifts so I'm hopeful they get someone like Jim Keller with the authority to shake things up.
> Why do you think I brought him up? AMD needs someone like Jim Keller but for software.
If there will be a JK for software, I'd say if he lands in a typical dotcom, half of the dev team with careers typical to Facebook/Amazon/Google will be relieved of their duties in a week.
