Windows 10: DirectX 12 comes to select Windows 7 games

Microsoft revealed on the official DirectX blog that Blizzard's World of Warcraft game is the first game to support DirectX 12 on Windows 7.

DirectX, a set of multimedia APIs used especially in PC games, is included natively in Windows. Microsoft releases new versions of DirectX regularly that introduce new features and improvements.

The company announced DirectX 12 in 2014 and launched it officially in Windows 10 in 2015. Microsoft decided to make DirectX 12 Windows 10 exclusive which meant that customers who ran Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 were limited to DirectX 11. This was not the first time that Microsoft decided to limit DirectX though.

When it released Windows Vista in 2006, it made DirectX 10 a Vista exclusive. The exclusivity backfired back then as the majority of game developers ignored DirectX 10 and focused on DirectX 9.0 instead which Windows XP supported as well.

According to Microsoft's blog post, it was Blizzard and other game companies that wanted to bring DirectX 12 support to their games on Windows 7. DirectX 12 offers advantages, such as low-level programing APIs or multi-GPU support, over previous versions of DirectX.



Microsoft ported the user mode Direct3D 12 runtime to Windows 7 in response so the request so that select games can use DirectX 12 on the operating system.

Today, with game patch 8.1.5 for World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth, Blizzard becomes the first game developer to use DirectX 12 for Windows 7! Now, Windows 7 WoW gamers can run the game using DirectX 12 and enjoy a framerate boost [..]
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Microsoft is "working with a few other game developers" currently according to the blog post. DirectX 12 won't become available universally on Windows 7, but only for select games according to Microsoft.

It is unclear if the games will use DirectX 12 on Windows 7 only, or if the games will also use it on Windows 8.1. The newer operating system, supported until 2023, is not mentioned once by Microsoft.

The announcement comes as a surprise for a number of reasons; probably the biggest is timing.

Windows 7 has a remaining lifetime of just 9 months before Microsoft ends support. Microsoft did not reveal why it caved in and ported DirectX 12 to Windows 7 for select games. Maybe because it was not all that much of an effort to do so, or because it expects that many customers will keep on running Windows 7 for some time after support ends.

A look back at the end of support for Windows XP suggests that history could repeat itself. It took years after support end before Windows XP usage numbers dropped significantly.

The move would make sense if Windows 8.1 gamers would benefit from DirectX 12 support as well but that is unclear at this point.

Another reason why the decision is surprising is that Microsoft does not back port features to older versions of Windows once it made the decision to limit them artificially to new versions of Windows.

The change may be beneficial to game developers who have a large enough base of users on Windows 7 as they may focus on the DirectX 12 version of the game and introduce performance improvements at the same time.

Now You: What is your take on this?

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unable to play some games with directx 12

Hi,

I will certainly help you with the issue.

Before assisting further, I would like to ask you few questions:

• 
  What happens when you try to play the games with the DirectX 12? Do you get any error message/code? If yes, then provide us the complete error message/code.
  

If you are unable to play games which doesn't support DirectX 12 then, you can manually download the supportable DirectX for the games.

I suggest you to refer to the below article on How to install the latest version of DirectX.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/179113

Some games comes with the supported DirectX application embedded within the game's application, so that you can install it manually from the game.

You can also try to open the games in the compatibility mode.

• 
  Right-click on the setup file of the game and click on ‘properties’.
  
• 
  Click on the ‘compatibility’ tab and check the box ‘Run this program in compatibility mode for’ and select Windows 8/8.1 operating system from the drop down menu and proceed.
  
• 
  Once this is done, Restart the computer.
  

Please get back to us with an update. We will be glad to help.

Thank you.

 

Directx 12 on Windows 10 is gone

Hi,

Thank you for being a part of Windows 10 Insider Preview.

I appreciate you for providing details about the issue and we are glad to assist you.

Try the following steps and check if it helps:

Step 1:

I suggest you to check the DirectX Version installed on your system.

Follow the below steps to check the DirectX Version:

• Press Windows key + R from the Desktop.
• Type dxdiag and hit Enter.
• Check the DirectX Version.

Step 2:

I suggest you to update the Graphic driver from the Device Manager and check if it works.

Follow the below steps:

• Press Windows + R on the Keyboard.
• Type in devmgmt.msc and hit Enter.
• Select Graphic driver from the list.
• Right click on the Graphic driver and click on Update driver Software.

If the issue persists then install the latest graphic driver from the manufacturer and check if it helps.

Kindly let us know if you need any further assistance with Windows. We are glad to assist you.

Thank you.

 

DirectX 9.0c AND 12?

Hi,

I would like to inform that the games which were working in previous Operating System may or may not work in Windows 10 due to compatibility issues. I suggest you to check for the latest version of the games which are not working, check compatibility
with Windows 10 and install. If the latest version is not available or if the games are not compatible, suggest you to install the games in compatibility mode by following the steps provided below:

• 
  Download the setup files for the game nd save it on your local disk.
  
• 
  Right click on the setup file of the game and select
  “Properties”.
  
• 
  Select “Compatibility” Tab.
  
• 
  Place a check mark next to“Run this program in Compatibility mode” and select operating system from the drop down list.
  
• 
  Let the game install and then check thefunctionality.
  

Let us know the status of the issue in regards with game. Your reply is important to assist you further.

Regards,

Guru Kiran