AnandTech has taken a thorough look at NVIDIA's new Vista-inspired ForceWare control panel. The control panel will appear in upcoming ForceWare Release 90 drivers, and it can already be seen in the 91.31 beta ForceWare drivers available on NVIDIA's nZone website.

Change is necessary as technology evolves, and it's sometimes difficult dealing with an interface we aren't used to even when it is generally accepted as better than the previous version (think Windows and the 95 and XP UI upgrades). Whether or not this driver will be better or worse than the previous one is open to debate, but this is something we are taking into account when critiquing the 90 Series ForceWare update. Putting aside our initial prejudices against the new interface however, there are some differences from the old version that need to be addressed.

Some advanced settings that were available using Coolbits or NVTweak with the classic interface are no longer accessible, which could cause some problems for users needing to access them. Fortunately, these are still able to be tweaked by choosing the option to go back to the old interface so it looks to be more of an inconvenience rather than a detriment for those using the driver. The things that appear left out include Display Mode Timing, Refresh Rate Overrides, Additional Direct3D Settings, and Additional Information (VESA BIOS Details). Some of these are serious omissions for some, as mentioned earlier. HDTV use for many people requires the ability to fine tune the resolution, and until this is corrected you will need to revert to the classic UI.

It's good that NVIDIA has left the option to go back to "classic" mode over the new one, but it defaults to the new mode when installed. Figuring out how to switch back can be confusing initially, but it turns out that all you need to do is enter the View menu and select "Switch to Classic Interface." It would be helpful if this option were placed more prominently, perhaps under one of the Main Menu icons. You can also switch to the classic UI through the "Advanced" dialog off the standard Windows Display Settings interface, though that's even less intuitive.