Some DirectX 11.1 Features Confirmed for Windows 7

by Kevin Parrish November 15, 2012 at 2:00 PM - Source: Microsoft

Right after reports went live focusing on a Microsoft Answers Q&A about DirectX 11.1 being a Windows 8 exclusive, Chuck Walbourn from Microsoft said on the Games for Windows blog that portions of the DirectX 11.1 runtime will be made available for Windows 7 after all.

According to Walbourn, Windows 8 includes an updated 'DirectX 11.1 Runtime' that supports Direct3D 11.1, updates Direct2D and DirectWrite, DXGI 1.2, and a revision of the Windows Imaging Component (WIC).

"Portions of the 'DirectX 11.1 Runtime' are being made available on Windows 7 Service Pack 1 via the Platform Update for Windows 7 Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (KB 2670838) included with the Internet Explorer 10 Release Preview for Windows 7," he writes. "This includes the updated components above, but is limited to WDDM 1.1 drivers on Windows 7."

According to the update notes, the patch improves the features and performance of Direct2D, DirectWrite, Direct3D, Windows Imaging Component (WIC), Windows Advanced Rasterization Platform (WARP), Windows Animation Manager (WAM), XPS Document API, H.264 Video Decoder and the JPEG XR codec.

Walbourn's blog adds more detail to the update:

* ID3D11Device1, ID2D1Factory1, IDWriteFactory1, IDXGIFactory2, IWICImagingFactory2, ID3DUserDefinedAnnotation and related APIs are available. Methods that depend on WDDM 1.2 drivers or new Windows Store app APIs are not supported.
* Improved Direct3D 11 device interoperability via ID3DDeviceContextState, including the improved interop with Direct2D/DirectWrite
* D3D11_FEATURE_DATA_D3D9_OPTIONS feature detection
* In addition to the new Windows 8 WIC features, this update also fixes decoding of 96bpp floating-point TIFF images.

For more information, read the blog here, and the platform update notes here.

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Old_Fogie_Late_Bloomer

It seems to me that this is in Microsoft's best interest, overall. I'm betting that the next Xbox will use DirectX 11.1. Any game developer that wants to release games for both the next Xbox and for PC will have to contend with the fact that Windows 7 is the most popular OS in the world (and will probably stay that way for a while).

If the lowest common denominator between the two systems is DirectX 11.0, that's what developers will shoot for. If Microsoft wants developers to use the latest and greatest features, they'll need to back-port them.
mace200200

So what exactly does this mean for people one Windows 7 in terms of installing it? Are they putting out a new version of service pack one to be downloaded from windows update, or will graphics drivers be able to include it without us doing anything else?
dozerman

Sigh. What will all of the tin foil hat wearing windows8 haters have to worry about now?
Not that big a difference in games to matter anyway. Should be working on DX12 in my book. The next crapbox is a joke btw. Already outdated by my current PC hardware which I upgrade annually cause I can, its a hobby.
gerchokas

They already forgot about the still modern, very-similar-under-the-hood Windows Vista... With the platform update we already have DX11 in that OS, why not keep upgrading it?
And BTW, porting "portions" of the runtime to Win7 is BS... Are they that different that they can't port the whole thing??? (I dont think so..) They'd love to forget everything before Win8 right now if they could
tomfreak

I got a feeling that DirectX 12 will not be part of win7/vista. But these days new directX adoption rate is slow thanks to consoles.
wemakeourfuture

soldier2013Not that big a difference in games to matter anyway. Should be working on DX12 in my book. The next crapbox is a joke btw. Already outdated by my current PC hardware which I upgrade annually cause I can, its a hobby.

You do realize the price difference in a console and how much you have spent on your PC right?
The-Darkening

lostmyclantime to move for linux instead =) microsoft with direct X killed the 3dfx wich uses Open gl.I still have a voodoo 2 and a voodoo 4. i miss that times. when i play turok and quake series and the first unreal...

I still got the Voodoo 3 3000 box in my room. It was really world changing for me at the time, switching from Software render to OpenGL.
mpioca

Old_Fogie_Late_BloomerIt seems to me that this is in Microsoft's best interest, overall. I'm betting that the next Xbox will use DirectX 11.1. Any game developer that wants to release games for both the next Xbox and for PC will have to contend with the fact that Windows 7 is the most popular OS in the world (and will probably stay that way for a while).If the lowest common denominator between the two systems is DirectX 11.0, that's what developers will shoot for. If Microsoft wants developers to use the latest and greatest features, they'll need to back-port them.

The consoles use a different API from DirectX since it does not make hardware-specific programming possible. DirectX is the best solution for the vast array of GPUs we use in PCs but for the consoles you don't need it when you can "directly" program for them. This is why none of the consoles use the DirectX API, it would be wasteful of the computing resources. It might be possible that the Microsoft consoles use a modified version of DirectX but I'm not sure about that.
SteelCity1981

MS realizing hardly anyone is upgrading to windows 8 so they need to focus more on Windows 7.
randomizer

So... DirectX 11.0.5?
fb39ca4

mpiocaThe consoles use a different API from DirectX since it does not make hardware-specific programming possible. DirectX is the best solution for the vast array of GPUs we use in PCs but for the consoles you don't need it when you can "directly" program for them. This is why none of the consoles use the DirectX API, it would be wasteful of the computing resources. It might be possible that the Microsoft consoles use a modified version of DirectX but I'm not sure about that.

Ummm the 360 uses a modified version of DirectX 9, and the original XBox used a version of DX8. Xbox was actually short for DirectXBox.
mouse24

Even if it doesn't include any of the 11.1 features I doubt it would matter in terms of visual quality. Maybe a tiny bit of performance loss assuming they add some code optimizations somehow but thats mostly up to devs anyhow. The point I'm trying to get at is these minor revisions aren't noticeable under any other conditions than taking an industrial grade microscope to 2 of the same pictures. Most people I know IRL can't tell the difference between DX9 an DX11 even on games with good tessellation support.
I hear no word of Vista users of receiving 11.1
tomfreak

mouse24Even if it doesn't include any of the 11.1 features I doubt it would matter in terms of visual quality. Maybe a tiny bit of performance loss assuming they add some code optimizations somehow but thats mostly up to devs anyhow. The point I'm trying to get at is these minor revisions aren't noticeable under any other conditions than taking an industrial grade microscope to 2 of the same pictures. Most people I know IRL can't tell the difference between DX9 an DX11 even on games with good tessellation support.

because nobody make true DX11 games. All are crappy console ports. Now a mid range card can max everything without AA. Pretty soon low end Radeon HDx500, or Nvidia GT #40 series will be able to max everything
alextheblue

lostmyclantime to move for linux instead =) microsoft with direct X killed the 3dfx wich uses Open gl.I still have a voodoo 2 and a voodoo 4. i miss that times. when i play turok and quake series and the first unreal...

MS didn't kill 3dfx, Nvidia did most of that. It didn't help that 3dfx got cocky and arrogant and sat on their butts while Nvidia was hard at work.

In terms of APIs, 3dfx was never a big supporter of OpenGL, they were forced into it later on though. Initially 3dfx was pushing Glide. They only embraced OpenGL when forced into it by software developers. They first started supporting OpenGL with "MiniGL" which was a subset of OGL just to be able to run Quake's OpenGL rendering path. Before that it was all Glide.

So while MS didn't kill 3dfx, you could say that OpenGL and DirectX both killed Glide, and together dealt a blow to 3dfx indirectly by leveling the API playing field. DirectX didn't really take over until OpenGL fell significantly behind, after the fate of 3dfx was sealed.
IQ11110002

wemakeourfutureYou do realize the price difference in a console and how much you have spent on your PC right?

Don't forget to take into account the $2000 HDTV the consoles usually play on, Works out the same as buying a pc
-Jackson

633409 said:

You do realize the price difference in a console and how much you have spent on your PC right?

And you both do realise you're talking apples and oranges?
The Xbox and PC are two completely different things, one is designed to primarily play games and/or play DVDs, while the other.. well I don't think I need to explain that. Gaming is just a small part of the functions a PC is capable of.
griptwister

What's stupid is Microsoft is shooting themselves in the foot with consoles... They're forcing themselves to port back to support DX 11.1
cats_Paw

So far i still have not seem directx 11 beeing implemented well in games anyway. Right now its the best moment for me for me to find a girlfriend or something, since in the gaming industry things have been actually going backwards. Crysis 1, dx 10 (2007), Metro and stalker call of prypiat, Dx 11 (2010-11), call of duty, Dx9 (2012).

No point in buying anything now, not Hardware, nor Games. So ill wait till 2014 or so when everything is balanced again.
ojas

Old_Fogie_Late_BloomerIt seems to me that this is in Microsoft's best interest, overall. I'm betting that the next Xbox will use DirectX 11.1. Any game developer that wants to release games for both the next Xbox and for PC will have to contend with the fact that Windows 7 is the most popular OS in the world (and will probably stay that way for a while).If the lowest common denominator between the two systems is DirectX 11.0, that's what developers will shoot for. If Microsoft wants developers to use the latest and greatest features, they'll need to back-port them.

I think it'll use DX11, because i remember reading the leaked specs on The Verge. It said full support for Direct3D11, so that's almost sure. Almost because, well it's still a "leaked" whatever.
tomfreak

alextheblueMS didn't kill 3dfx, Nvidia did most of that. It didn't help that 3dfx got cocky and arrogant and sat on their butts while Nvidia was hard at work.In terms of APIs, 3dfx was never a big supporter of OpenGL, they were forced into it later on though. Initially 3dfx was pushing Glide. They only embraced OpenGL when forced into it by software developers. They first started supporting OpenGL with "MiniGL" which was a subset of OGL just to be able to run Quake's OpenGL rendering path. Before that it was all Glide.So while MS didn't kill 3dfx, you could say that OpenGL and DirectX both killed Glide, and together dealt a blow to 3dfx indirectly by leveling the API playing field. DirectX didn't really take over until OpenGL fell significantly behind, after the fate of 3dfx was sealed.

to add the further problem, 3dfx become retard and lock out all Asus/msi/gigabtye etc all those 3rd party card maker from making their voodoo cards. These card maker switch to Nvidia, enable Nvidia gain enough contract. More contract = more money = more + better engineers = Killer grpahic = the Geforce 256 the card that Doom 3dfx.
wemakeourfuture

IQ11110002Don't forget to take into account the $2000 HDTV the consoles usually play on, Works out the same as buying a pc

ummm... 99% of people don't buy a TV to play games on, they usually have a tv then get a console.
stickmansam

wemakeourfutureummm... 99% of people don't buy a TV to play games on, they usually have a tv then get a console.

I agree that most people already have the screens they need to play on. But a simple AMD apu build I am doing right now is costing me around 240 for apu+6670+mb+ram (granted i will reusing parts from an older machine (save about 100 ish off of HDD, PSU, Case)
An Xbox in Canada iirc 250 for the 250GB version. I expect both to be quite playable at 1080p or at least 720p.

Both sides offer their respective advantages (e.g. console exclusive vs wider range of possible uses and more flexibility *PC exclusive games as well*). I think its more of a personal choice to be honest. For me, I would choose PC over consoles any day (also can't hit anything with controllers ).

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