There are two sides to Wi-Fi support under an operating system. One of them is driver level support which is usually provided by the manufacturer of the hardware or, in the case of Unix clones such as Linux and FreeBSD, sometimes through open source projects. The other side refers to configuration and management support which consists of software to enumerate, join, and check the status of available Wi-Fi networks. This also includes support for various encryption methods.

Microsoft Windows has comprehensive driver-level support for Wi-Fi, the quality of which depends on the hardware manufacturer. Hardware manufactures almost always ship Windows drivers with their products. Windows ships with very few Wi-Fi drivers and depends on the OEMs and device manufactures to make sure users get drivers. Configuration and management depend on the version of Windows:

Windows 98, ME and 2000 do not have built-in configuration and management support and must depend on software provided by the manufacturer.

           Microsoft Windows XP has built-in configuration and management support. The original shipping version of Windows XP included rudimentary support which was dramatically improved in Service Pack 2. Support for WPA2 and some other security protocols require updates from Microsoft. To make up for Windows inconsistent and sometimes inadequate configuration and management support, many hardware manufacturers include their own software and require the user to disable Windows’ built-in Wi-Fi support.

           Microsoft Windows Vista is expected to have improved Wi-Fi support over Windows XP. Current betas automatically connect to unsecured networks without the user’s approval. This is a large security issue for the owner of the respective unsecured access point and for the owner of the Windows Vista based computer because shared folders may be open to public access.