The UMDF supports the development of drivers for protocol-based or serial bus–based devices, such as USB devices and network-connected devices. For example, you can write drivers for the following types of devices by using the UMDF:

• Portable storage devices, such as PDAs and cell phones
• Portable media players
• USB bulk transfer devices
• Auxiliary display and video devices

These devices can be directly connected, connected on the network, or connected through a wireless protocol such as Bluetooth.

UMDF drivers can support 32-bit or 64-bit devices for any Microsoft Windows hardware platform and can be distributed on Windows Update.

You cannot write UMDF drivers for drivers that require the following items; such drivers must be written as kernel-mode drivers.

• Handling interrupts
• Direct access to the hardware, such as direct memory access (DMA)
• Strict timing loops
• Use of nonpaged pool or other resources that are reserved for kernel mode

For more information about the types of drivers that you can develop with UMDF, see Choosing a Driver Model.