Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !
aEver since I first began using Linux, I've used proprietary drivers only when it was absolutely necessary. In fact, back then (during the release of Ubuntu 10.04 LTS), I noticed that the free open-source drivers worked better than the proprietary Nvidia drivers that my desktop needed at the time. About a year later, when I built a new computer, although I now had an AMD graphics card, I decided to stick with the open-source drivers instead of AMD's own drivers. Fast-forward a couple of years and another custom-built PC – to arrive at the present time, September 2014. A lot has changed in the last year, and it's mostly due to Valve's Steam video game engine being ported to Linux. I remember about two years ago when Linus Torvalds himself gave Nvidia a not-so-friendly hand-sign because of Nvidia's lack of cooperation with the Linux community.
Ever since then, Nvidia has been making the effort to improve their relationship with us Linux folks. Nvidia's main competitor, AMD, didn't wait to get the finger from Linus in order to spring into action. AMD's Catalyst graphics drivers have lately been keeping up with the increasing demands of the new influx of games that are currently saturating the Linux market. As a gamer, I need to have the latest graphics drivers installed in my system. Ever since Valve's Steam video game engine strongly suggested that we use the latest proprietary graphics drivers for a smooth playing experience, I've been using the latest AMD Beta driver available through Ubuntu's Additional Drivers application (in Linux Mint the application is called Driver Manager). However, I've been aware that the latest Beta driver provided by Additional Drivers is NOT the latest AMD Beta available for installation.
For this month's Video Game Reviews, I have been playing The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings Enhanced Edition, which has perhaps the best graphics I've yet seen in a Linux video game. In order for me to play the video game ‘The Witcher 2’, it was suggested that I install the latest AMD Beta directly from the AMD website. My determination to play the video game drove me to figure out how to install it. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the instructions on the website were pretty simple, straight-forward, and to the point. I downloaded the driver from: http://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/Pages/Latest-LINUX-Beta-Driver.aspx
I then followed the directions given on: http://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/Pages/Catalyst-Linux-Installer-Notes.aspx
Rather than turn this review into a How-To, I simply recommend that you pay attention to the instructions provided on AMD's website, and follow them as close as possible. Not only are the instructions easy to follow, but the actual AMD Catalyst Beta installer is also very user friendly, intuitive and makes it almost as easy to install as if you were using your distro's Software Center. I am very impressed with AMD's efforts to provide us with the latest drivers they have to offer. After a quick reboot, the new graphics driver should be working just fine. With the true latest AMD Beta 14.6 from the AMD website, I was able to play The Witcher 2 without any problems. The process of installing the AMD Beta Catalyst driver took less than 15 minutes and everything works better than before.
The only Con I find with using the AMD Catalyst Beta 14.6 is that it's a proprietary driver. On the other hand, there is a long list of Pro's. There is so much to gain from using this proprietary driver: it's easy to install, your games will play much better, and your desktop effects will look more impressive as well. I strongly recommend it to anyone who has an AMD Radeon HD 5xxx or newer graphics card, and is interested in playing the new flurry of video games that are trickling their way down into our beloved operating system.