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The Device Manager is part of the Mac OS that provides communication between applications and devices. The Device Manager calls generic device drivers; it doesn't manipulate devices directly. Generic drivers accept calls from the Device Manager and either cause device actions or respond by sending back data generated by devices. For further general information about drivers and the Device Manager, see Inside Macintosh: Devices.
For 68K drivers, the Device Manager's capabilities and services remain unchanged. For generic native drivers, the Device Manager has changed to support PowerPC driver code and to permit drivers to operate concurrently.