You can look forward to better graphics performance in games and other high-power stuff if your laptop has an NVIDIA graphics processing unit (GPU). Drivers are bits of software that tell your computer's operating system (like Windows, Linux, or OS X) how to most effectively use a specific piece of hardware. In the past NVIDIA's laptops drivers have only been available through the laptop manufacturers (such as Dell or Asus), but NVIDIA is finally ready to support nearly all laptops that feature its hardware, offering the drivers on its own website as soon as they're ready.

This means you can expect far more frequent updates, since the drivers won't have to be approved by the laptop-makers before you get them. More frequent updates mean better optimization (and so faster performance) for the latest graphics-intensive software including 3D games and video editing tools. This also means quicker fixes to bugs and other problems.

The drivers come with special tools for tweaking your video settings that the operating system usually doesn't have on its own. Head over to www.nvidia.com and click "Download Drivers" to get started. You'll just need to know your operating system and what model of graphics processor you have.

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