Windows 7, DirectX 11!
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New versions of Windows have featured new versions of DirectX, the 3D audio and graphics family of APIs, and it now appears that Windows 7 will be no exception. According to PC Games Hardware, Microsoft's Ben Basaric, Product Marketing Manager Windows, says that Redmond will be bundling DirectX 11 with Windows 7, after all. Earlier this week, PCGH had reported that the pairing of DirectX 11 and Windows 7 was "unlikely."
So, what's new in DirectX 11? As we reported this summer, DX 11 will include compute shader technology, enabling the GPU to perform operations other than 3D graphics; better multi-core resource handling; more efficient utilization of the processing pipeline; hardware tesselation support for more detailed 3D models.
When can you expect to buy DirectX 11-compliant GPUs? AMD says its first DirectX 11 parts will be available in late 2009 - right about the time Windows 7 is expected to arrive. New operating system and new graphics hardware? Hopefully, that's a recipe for more realistic 3D graphics than ever before. If Microsoft and OEMs continue to work as closely as the Engineering Windows 7 blog suggests, that's much more likely than a repeat of the poorly handled rollout of Vista-ready hardware at Vista's introduction.
How about you? Are you going to wait for DirectX 11 before you buy a new graphics card, or are NVIDIA and ATI's current products tempting you to spend your money on DirectX 10/10.1 parts now? Hit Comment and tell us what your heart (and your wallet) are telling you.
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AlexTheUkrainian
July 27, 2009 at 7:51am
I see a lot of hate for Vista and I share all of it b/c, well, let's face it, Vista sucks.
Win7 is a different beast, though. If you haven't tried the Beta or Release Candidate yet (or even the leaked RTM that's now available), don't judge it, trust me - you'll be pleasantly surprised. Setup is quick and painless, the footprint is way smaller than Vista's, it runs way quicker and smoother, and everything just works. Yes, I know, it's really crazy for things to just work in a MS OS, but it's true. I've had numerous issues with Vista and 8800 GTX, but I've used Win7 Beta since Jan. 2009 and had ZERO problems (except with video drivers in the past month or so, but it was getting worse until my vid. card just died today so now I know it wasn't the OS, but the dyeing hardware).
If anything, I think everyone should be enthusiastic about Win7 - it's honestly the only OS i'd actually recommend to someone. The amount of improvement from Vista is incredible. It does look similar to Vista, but it sure doesn't feel like they share anything else in common. Two thumbs up to Microsoft on this one; they got it right (finally?). Not sure how DX11 will play out, but hopefully MS learned their lesson there as well - seeing how Win7 turned out, I do have considerable hope. Go grab the RTM (build 7600.16385, NOT 7600.00000) from torrent (at your own risk!) and see for yourself. I'm running 64-bit RTM right now. The key can be "re-armed" 3 times so you won't need a product key for 4 months.
Cheers!
farfigneugan
February 14, 2009 at 8:58am
So, are you trying to imply that a 7950gt ko or 7900gtx should outperfom a GTX280 in a Dx9 game? Those are the highest-end dx9 cards. After that, the 8 series came out, supporting dx10.
You're blinded by the Vista hate, man. I'm no fan of Vista, I dual boot Vista 64 ultimate and XP pro 32. I presently own a 7950gt ko, 8800gt, and gtx280. In ANY game, from Quake 1 (1996) to Crysis, the GTX280 outperforms the other cards.
What are you talking about?
aluCard1462
February 02, 2009 at 12:37am
...i would say planned obsolescence. Yeah..pretty much the way everything is designed. The old becomes aged and in walks a shiny new OS. For better or worse, this is what we have to endure. As long as we can keep dual and triple booting, we'll be fine...
justchad
December 05, 2008 at 8:12pm
I hope and pray that this is what we are looking at, that vista was just a stupid release like ME and windows will redeem its self with 7. Only time will tell (fingers crossed).
AlexTheUkrainian
July 27, 2009 at 7:57am
That's exactly my impression with Win7 so far, man. Vista was def. ME and 7 so far is rock-stable like XP. I'm software engineer and work with several IT guys and all are highly impressed with Win7 - it by far exceeded our expectations. No one had problems with it yet, even starting with the Beta version. First Beta by MS EVER to not have any problems for me - which is insane considering that, well, it's Microsoft :) So be joyous, this OS is sure to be a huge hit. In fact if you invest, I'd buy MS shares now, seriously. PS: RTM is already leaked to torrents, if interested and at your own risk, look for Final version posted by Zukanov, build 7600.16385 on thepiratebay.
ghot
December 04, 2008 at 10:55pm
If I understan the idiot replys to my comment corectly...they think that we NEED Vista and Windows 7....we ...don't.....I just gave Vista a 2nd chance,,,,I installed it again, with all the improvements (sic) and Xp still beats it sensless...not just in speed but in ease of use. I couldn't re-believe all the crap changes made to a perfectly functional XP..... that Vista provided.
My 3DMark 06 score on a AMD 5000+ OC'd to 3.2GHz with a GTX280 are the same as Vista's running the new i7..... The only difference I see in Vista is more craplets to sync everything and the kitchen sink to my OS and the ability to have to spend twice as long doing it. Add to that that it required a hardware and apps upgrade.....duh!
MS had the right idea they just are implenting it at the wrong time and too fast....and to top it all off the release was so screwed up (sloppy coding and license disputes) that it made it even worse.
The app vendors, game vendors OS vendors, hardware vendors CAN afford to keep up with Murphy....only problem is the "new" average consumer can't. Sure there are many enthusiasts that can keep up, but they are sorely outnumbered by those that can't. Great DX10 can let me run World of conflict at 250 fps at high resolution....on monitors I can't afford anyways. Wheres the logic in that? Whyt does the NEW OS require 3-5 times as many clicks to do the same thing I can do on XP with 1 or 2?
Fortunately for my peace of mind...I don't NEED to prove my point...the market is doing it for me.
As for writing an OS that is better than Vista or Windows 7 ......I don't have to, I already have it .....its called XP.
fullur
December 04, 2008 at 6:31pm
Not that I am a fan of the Vista/DX10 decision, but how has that cost Microsoft any money? They were already going to get the sales that went to anyone buying XP, they got sales of Vista they would not have otherwise... the only ones hurting because MS did not port are consumers.
Spider-Mom
November 30, 2008 at 4:06pm
when they announced 11 wasnt one if its main features going to be that it was going to be on Vista as well as 7? I specifically remember reading that.
Well screw the hole thing then. They cant really "force" you to buy anything when you can just DL the pos off a web site for free. I think it will be a long time before MS sees another dollar from me. Ill gladly steel it if their not going to do a good job in the first place, screw things up that wernt before and then institute forced obsolescence. YES that its what it is,FORCED OBSOLESCENCE. If you still think its any thing other your a fool.
redundant
November 26, 2008 at 6:35pm
Your program has caused my computer to fry. Let me tell you the story. I started up my computer and left to go eat. When I got back, I realized my house was ablaze. I called the fire department and responded immediatly. There I was without a house for two weeks. Thanks Microsoft. My insurance has increased, my kids are homless and I have no computer. Wait, it might be because I overclocked it, but I doubt it. Microsoft wanted me to overclock it. Microsoft has been wackin my computers peepee ever since I've had it. Because of Microsoft, Crysis is lost to me.
spidercio
November 25, 2008 at 8:20am
Wow now we're compairing glue to a coumuter!?!
Dude I think computers are a little more complicated than glue...
stop being so angry at everything... why dont you make an OS so we can all critique it and see how good you do
GreenTurtle
November 29, 2008 at 7:04am
Dare we say it, Maybe ghot and hogkill can get together and build their own OS to rival MS LOL!!!!
Sounds like ghot IS hogkill and uses two names so he can write angry posts and not seem alone in the world LOL!!!!!
hogkill
November 27, 2008 at 3:29pm
You're right. Microsoft shouldn't be critisized. They are a small company and are just trying their best. They can't take critisism, it might hurt their feelings.
ghot
November 24, 2008 at 9:10pm
Have you ever heard another large company (like Dupont for ex.) say: If you dont buy our new glue, all the things you glued with our old glue won't work anymore? No you haven't! Get some damn honor, before even the children hate you.
Port the damn APIs to all your OS's, games as well, or you will get a swift kick in your' family market share. I realize it'll take a few years to FEEL it, but it WILL happen.
Learn from your' past mistakes....no amount of hype is going to work this time. In case you didn't notice (while on your' Yacht) we are in a recession/depression.....if you force people to AGAIN, go out and buy new hardware......they're gonna smack your' peepee. You know WHY WoW has outsold every damn one of your' games? Because to play them a person doesnt need to drop another $2000 dollars on new hardware to play it. Which part of this, don't you understand?
Keep it up and MS is going to be the ONLY two-letter dirty word!
HeartBurnKid
November 24, 2008 at 8:54am
Because pairing DirectX 10 and Vista was such a winning move...
7hemy7h
November 24, 2008 at 7:21am
I doubt 1st gen DX11 cards will be able to render in DX11 without a large framerate loss. I'd say stick to DX10 cards for now until DX11 hits the mainstream.
s3th
November 23, 2008 at 9:00pm
I wont have the money to build a computer till after W7 has been out for awhile anyway so I dont have much to worry about as of now, but Id rather wait and just buy a GPU if I had to.
SpazzAttack
November 23, 2008 at 8:16pm
1) Bring back DirectSound3D and 2) add a real physics API for the GPUs. This Havok vs. PhysX crap is for the birds.
ghot
November 23, 2008 at 6:23pm
Ms just won't stop will they? Lets predict the future:
1. Windows 7 "capable" computers...
2. Driver devs purchasing automatic weapons.
3. Windows 7 following in Vistas soggy footsteps.
4. Ballmer released from jail to be tried for the same issues from the Vista era.
5. Consumers mass, and firebomb Redmond, Washington!
Oh the Windows OS is frightful, but the fiscal returns, delightful, Linux will start to gleam, MS leave, MS leave, MS leave!
Mighty BOB!
November 22, 2008 at 2:22pm
So am I going to need to have DX11, 10, and 9 installed concurrently to be able to run older and newer games the same way I need 9 and 10 installed in Vista?
SpazzAttack
November 23, 2008 at 8:14pm
The DirectX 10 API is backwardly compatible with DX9, as is DX9 with DX8, as is DX8 with DX7, etc. etc. DirectX 11 will be the same thing in that the older API's function calls will still be accessable. That's why I can still run DirectX 7 games (Descent 3) on my Vista Ultimate x64 system.
zodi
November 22, 2008 at 12:54pm
Other then some fancier graphics...DX10 didn't really justify anything. There are still very few games out with DX 10 support. I will buy a new card now and like most people wait for Windows 7 SP?
Devo85x
November 22, 2008 at 8:22am
I'm planning on waiting for SP1 of Windows 7 so the OS will be more stable (not many Windows launches have been that great, but after SP1 the seem to get A LOT better) then just build a new rig (core i7, new DX11 GPU, etc...)
Sina
November 22, 2008 at 6:22am
Again... New nightmare, just like Vista.
Win 7, DX 11.
I will wait for new nightmare OS & GC.
Devo85x
November 22, 2008 at 8:50am
If my sourcs are correct, there are still more systems with windows XP than Vista, even though Vista offered and still offers some great things that the average comsumer could use... market need would tell you never to come out with new stuff... just updates to old stuff... in otherwords, if we did that, we would be using DOS 16.1 instead of XP/Vista... thank you Ill take my new stuff now...
praetor_alpha
November 22, 2008 at 12:03am
I've had a GTX 280 for a few months, and that is pumping pixels into my visual cortex faster than anything else ever has before. I have never had a high end card, ever, so I'm basically getting a pixel high. And yes, I'm happy about it.
Keith E. Whisman
November 21, 2008 at 11:09pm
Well don't be hating on DX10 as it brought about the unified shader architecture. Without DX10 we wouldn't have hundreds of Stream processors in our GPU's. DX10 is truely one of the greatest technologies to come to computers ever. Simply because of the unified shader technology it brought about.... So love DX10... Love it man!
dankers
November 22, 2008 at 1:27am
"DX10 is truely one of the greatest technologies to come to computers ever." I'm hanging that on my fridge.
Keith E. Whisman
November 22, 2008 at 11:37am
That Badass GTX280 and 4870X2 are both products that were brought about by hardware standards required by DX10, namely the unified shader. DX10 video cards are great with DX9 games and work great in XP. So there is no need to hate on DX10. It gave us super high end graphics cards and that is what makes it the best thing to happen to computers ever. DX10 I love you.
dankers
November 23, 2008 at 8:12am
"DX10 video cards are great with DX9 games and work great in XP" -Man, my fridge is going to be covered!
farfigneugan
February 14, 2009 at 9:00am
So, are you trying to imply that a 7950gt ko or 7900gtx should outperfom a GTX280 in a Dx9 game? Those are the highest-end dx9 cards. After that, the 8 series came out, supporting dx10.
You're blinded by the Vista hate, man. I'm no fan of Vista, I dual boot Vista 64 ultimate and XP pro 32. I presently own a 7950gt ko, 8800gt, and gtx280. In ANY game, from Quake 1 (1996) to Crysis, the GTX280 outperforms the other cards.
What are you talking about?
farfigneugan
February 14, 2009 at 9:02am
There are a good many games that use DX10. The thing games aren't using (yet) are more than 2 cores. So quad cores/ i7s are not using more than 2 in a game, with only one or two exceptions.
Devo85x
November 22, 2008 at 8:52am
A good number do... but the problem is that most games we tend to get now are ported from the Xbox and PS3... anything that is run on the Xbox is run in DX9 so most developers dont see the point of DX10... so I guess this would just turn into a piracy discusion but I wont go there... but yeah there are still plenty of DX10 games if you look around
dankers
November 22, 2008 at 9:17am
Apparantly Microsoft still hasn't learned any lessons from Vista. They alienated a number of customers when they failed to port DX10 to XP. Now it seems they are planning to do the same thing with Windows 7.
nekollx
November 22, 2008 at 1:22pm
why would they port Dx11 to a OS they Stoped Producing?
Whats next people demanxing DX11 for Windows 98?
dankers
November 28, 2008 at 4:31am
In an interview with a M$ insider I read right here on MPC they said something along the lines of "It was a mistake to not port DX10 to XP". Which was what I was referring to.
nekollx
November 28, 2008 at 10:38am
that was back when MS was stil porducing XP though, they may still be supporting XP but like Win 98 it's no t being produced
dankers
November 29, 2008 at 8:37am
The article did take place after XP had gone the way of the dodo, however Vista and DX10 were both developed before. After all, you wouldn't expect a gap in M$ product lineup. All i'm saying is M$ irritated more than a few people when they decided to try to force people to buy a new operating system, yet they seem perfectly willing to do it again. I had hoped that M$ would have learned from their mistakes, although that seems to not be the case.
nekollx
December 01, 2008 at 10:08am
there come a point when you have to move on. Really would you want to have to pick from Windows 3.1, Windoes ME, Windows 95, Windows 96, Windows 98, Windows XP, Windows Vista, AND Windows SE7EN?
MattGreer
November 21, 2008 at 10:07pm
I'm as enthusiastic about DX 11 as I am about DX 10. Namely, DX 9 is just fine for me...
Keith E. Whisman
November 21, 2008 at 8:34pm
Will they reimplement the DirectSound3D API if so then all will be happy. I always felt that along with WinFS DS3D was axed to speedup developement.
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