physical device driver (PDD)

A computer can only use peripheral devices connected to it if the functionality of the peripheral device can be implemented by special additional programs. The operating system or the application program can control and implement the functions of the peripheral device via corresponding adaptation programs, the device drivers or drivers for short.

Device drivers, physical device drivers (PDD), ensure that the operating system can execute the device-specific functions of the peripheral device. All peripheral devices and plug-in cards need such a driver to be able to execute the functions. There are drivers for keyboards, printers, monitors and computer mouse and for any other peripheral device, as well as for communication, audio, video or graphics cards. The drivers are provided by the manufacturing companies with the peripheral, or they can be downloaded from the Internet.

In many cases, the operating system recognizes the connected hardware and can access its own device driver library. This hardware is plug-and-play devices. Driver software is dependent on both the operating system and the current device version, and its functionality is constantly updated.