Why is WinPkFlt a LWF and not an NDIS Intermediate Driver ?

[Zyxel]

Vadim,

On Win Vista and above, why did you decide to make the WinPkFlt helper driver a Low Weight Filter driver instead of the NDIS Intermediate driver ?

I am just curious about your choice of driver topology? What did you consider when making that choice?

Why did you think one was superior to the other, or was one just easier to write than the other?

[Vadim Smirnov]

In two words, NDIS IM is a NDIS 5.1 driver (though, it can be used in Vista, but in fact this is a compatibility mode) while LWF is NDIS 6.x and has a native support.

[Zyxel]

I am surprised that IM drivers are no longer supported natively on NDIS 6.x.

Does a corresponding “Heavy Wight” filter driver exist on NDIS 6.x, that is the big brother of the Low Weight Filter driver ?

[Vadim Smirnov]

No, in fact NDIS 6.x LWF is a direct replacement for NDIS 5.1 IM drivers.

[Author]

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