4 ms·

What if they lock the next version of DirectX behind Windows 11?

aseipp 5y ago
That's how it's worked forever, basically; Windows 10 was the minimum requirement for DX12 and Vista with DX11 before that, with 6-7 year time gaps. The APIs also evolved slowly and incrementally with features between those years, but I don't think all of them were available in every operating system. DirectStorage for instance (allowing P2P DMA between your GPU and SSD) is only going to be available in Windows 11 apparently. So when/if they release DirectX13, yes, it will surely be Windows 11 only. Speaking from personal PC gaming experience though, I don't expect this to be some major blocker, based on my experience with DirectX12 uptake in games today 5-6 years after it was introduced (it's not high outside of AAA titles, and all of them have fallbacks/alt renderers.) Not to mention the fact Windows 11 will only work on very recent hardware, so you might as well just target the "old" APIs for a good while and have a vastly larger userbase. I don't plan on upgrading for a bit and I don't think I'll miss much, game-wise, in the mean time.
- pitterpatter 5y ago
  >DirectStorage for instance (allowing P2P DMA between your GPU and SSD) is only going to be available in Windows 11 apparently. Pretty sure they backtracked on that. "As such, games built against the DirectStorage SDK will be compatible with Windows 10, version 1909 and up" https://devblogs.microsoft.com/directx/directstorage-developer-preview-now-available/ https://devblogs.microsoft.com/directx/directstorage-develop...
phone8675309 5y ago
Then people will probably spend time trying to get the Wine/Proton implementation of that version of DirectX running on Windows 10. Windows 11 is going over like a lead balloon in the enthusiast gaming community, so the will is there.
- zamadatix 5y ago
  People make the same 2 claims every release yet it never actually happens at any measurable scale. The second the old version everyone die hard loves (that was also widely trashed on at launch) stops being supported for the latest features and security updates the vast majority of gamers just move on.

That's how it's worked forever, basically; Windows 10 was the minimum requirement for DX12 and Vista with DX11 before that, with 6-7 year time gaps. The APIs also evolved slowly and incrementally with features between those years, but I don't think all of them were available in every operating system. DirectStorage for instance (allowing P2P DMA between your GPU and SSD) is only going to be available in Windows 11 apparently. So when/if they release DirectX13, yes, it will surely be Windows 11 only. Speaking from personal PC gaming experience though, I don't expect this to be some major blocker, based on my experience with DirectX12 uptake in games today 5-6 years after it was introduced (it's not high outside of AAA titles, and all of them have fallbacks/alt renderers.) Not to mention the fact Windows 11 will only work on very recent hardware, so you might as well just target the "old" APIs for a good while and have a vastly larger userbase. I don't plan on upgrading for a bit and I don't think I'll miss much, game-wise, in the mean time.

pitterpatter 5y ago
>DirectStorage for instance (allowing P2P DMA between your GPU and SSD) is only going to be available in Windows 11 apparently. Pretty sure they backtracked on that. "As such, games built against the DirectStorage SDK will be compatible with Windows 10, version 1909 and up" https://devblogs.microsoft.com/directx/directstorage-developer-preview-now-available/ https://devblogs.microsoft.com/directx/directstorage-develop...

phone8675309 5y ago

Then people will probably spend time trying to get the Wine/Proton implementation of that version of DirectX running on Windows 10. Windows 11 is going over like a lead balloon in the enthusiast gaming community, so the will is there.

zamadatix 5y ago
People make the same 2 claims every release yet it never actually happens at any measurable scale. The second the old version everyone die hard loves (that was also widely trashed on at launch) stops being supported for the latest features and security updates the vast majority of gamers just move on.