>Unlike Windows that doesn't support backward compatibility with device drivers,
Honestly Linux is on the one extreme of very frequent ABI changes (dkms somewhat alieviates this but often requires keeping kernel source around). This means binary wise your driver on Linux has a very short shelf life (but if the source code is maintained and available can be built from source every version). The other extreme I understand is Solaris where a device driver binary often can work 4 or 5 OS versions (15 years) later. Of course Solaris doesn't have to support near as much hardware. And going back to your point about windows drivers, source is not even an option so ABI changes are the kiss of death unless new drivers are released by the manufacturer.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
