Windows 11 version 22H2 is going to be available in the coming months, and driver updates are starting to reflect that. AMD has already released its first driver with official support for this version of Windows, and now Intel is doing the same. The latest Intel Graphics drivers for Iris Xe processors - versions 31.0.101.3222 and 31.0.101.2111 - add official support for Windows 11 version 22H2, meaning they should now work better with this update, and any issues that arise with the drivers on that version of Windows are up to Intel to fix.

However, as you might be able to tell from the version numbers above, that's not the only piece of news here. With this release of its Intel Graphics drivers, the company is also splitting up support for older processors, specifically products that are part of the 6th through 10th generations of Intel processors. These models will now be on a legacy support model, meaning they'll only get critical fixes and security updates, and usually on a quarterly cadence.

Starting with this release, each driver package contains two sets of driver files. One set (in this case, version 31.0.101.2111) is aimed at these legacy products, and the other (31.0.101.3222) is meant for the more modern models. All the products being dropped predate the Iris Xe graphics architecture, which debuted with the 11th-generation of Intel mobile processors and brought along significant performance improvements for integrated graphics. Both 11th- and 12th-generation Intel processors have Intel Iris Xe graphics, and there's also the discrete Intel Iris Xe Max GPU, all of which are still on the mainstream support cycle. As for Intel Arc A-series graphics, which are starting to slowly make their way to the market, those get updates separately, and they don't actually have support for Windows 11 version 22H2 just yet, but presumably, a new driver update is coming soon.

Aside from that change in the support plan, the latest Intel drivers don't include a whole lot that's new. Both versions include a fix for a crash in Watch Dogs: Legion when starting the game, while version 31.0.101.3222 also includes a fix for an error message shown when starting up Call Of Duty: Vanguard as well as a fix for an issue where some Intel NUC models may go into a sleep state instead of shutting down.

If you're interested, you can download the latest Intel Graphics drivers here, and read more about the legacy support model for older Intel processors here.