Rumor: Sorry Folks, There Will be no DirectX 12 Support For Windows 7 - Update

Steven Bogos

The Taco Man
Jan 17, 2013
9,354
0
0
Rumor: Sorry Folks, There Will be no DirectX 12 Support For Windows 7 - Update


Microsoft's latest DirectX API will be exclusive to Windows 8 and Windows 10.

Update: According to a statement received by GameSpot [http://www.gamespot.com/articles/amd-misspoke-saying-directx-12-won-t-work-with-win/1100-6423617/], Huddy "misspoke" regarding DirectX 12 support for Windows 7.

"There have been reports based on a video of Richard Huddy of AMD making speculative comments around DirectX 12 support on versions of Windows," AMD said in the statement. "Richard Huddy does not speak for Microsoft, and he was unfortunately speculating from Microsoft's publication of key dates and milestones for Windows 7 lifecycle and mainstream support policy. Richard has no special insight into Microsoft's Windows or DirectX roadmaps. Microsoft is a key, strategic partner for AMD and we're continuously collaborating with them on DirectX 12."

So, even though it's just speculation, we probably won't be too surprised if this one turns out to be true, given Microsoft's history.

Source: GameSpot [http://www.gamespot.com/articles/amd-misspoke-saying-directx-12-won-t-work-with-win/1100-6423617/]

Original Story: DirectX 12, the latest version of Microsoft's application programming interfaces (API) promises to significantly increase the performance of games on the platform, thanks to features such as better multithreading support, and reduced CPU overhead. Unfortunately, for those PC gamers who are still sticking by good ol' Windows 7, I'm afraid Microsoft has decided to leave you in the dirt, announcing that DX12 will be exclusive to Windows 8 and Windows 10.

Speaking at a PDXLAN presentation earlier this month, AMD's Chief Gaming Scientist Richard Huddy said that while Windows 7 remains Microsoft's most popular operating system (52 percent of all Microsoft OS users are still on Windows 7), it won't be getting the updated API. "One thing that's not going to happen to it is DX12. Yup, DX12 is not coming to Windows 7," stated Huddy definitively.

Huddy continued to say that the number of users using Windows 7 is actually growing, which may explain the decision to "force" consumers to upgrade by holding the latest DirectX at ransom. Some of you may remember that Microsoft already tried this strategy before [http://www.gamefront.com/directx11-announced-and-its-backward-compatible/] with Windows Vista and DirectX 10. It did not work so well.

According to a recent Steam hardware survey, 47.8% of users use Windows 7, as opposed to just 21.4% on Windows 8.1.

When Windows 10 launches next year [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/137744-Microsoft-Windows-10-not-Windows-9], it will come with DirectX 12 built in, while the API will be made available as a free download for Windows 8.1 users.

Source: PC Gamer [http://www.pcgamer.com/directx-12-will-not-be-supported-by-windows-7/]

Permalink
 

Zhukov

The Laughing Arsehole
Dec 29, 2009
13,769
5
43
Waaaaitwaitwaitwait.

Windows 10?

I swear they only just launched Windows 8. Hell, what happened to Windows 9?

I often wish the whole upgrading thing would just fucking stop. I want an OS that works, not the latest and greatest that may or may not work depending on what Microsoft have been smoking on that particular year.

It says a lot that they have to keep forcing the upgrades. Remember how long people stuck with good ol' Windows XP?
 

Rellik San

New member
Feb 3, 2011
609
0
0
Oh Microsot.... did the horrors of Vista teach you nothing.

I guess to push this, Master Chief Collection on PC will "REQUIRE" DX12. You tried this with Halo 2 and it didn't work...

Zhukov said:
Waaaaitwaitwaitwait.

Windows 10?

I swear they only just launched Windows 8. Hell, what happened to Windows 9?
There's actually a very sensible reason for this: Most windows 98 and 95 programs search for a "Win9x" command in the program to determine compatibility, to ensure legacy software still works, they had to skip 9 or else countless software (many out of business now) houses would have to patch near 20 year old code.
 

Doom972

New member
Dec 25, 2008
2,312
0
0
Most PC games still use DirectX 9, some use DirectX 10, and few use DirectX 11, so I don't think that it's going to be a problem in the foreseeable future. I do hope that it'll encourage game developers to adopt OpenGL instead. It'll make paying for a new OS optional, and will make porting to other OSs much easier.
 

mad825

New member
Mar 28, 2010
3,379
0
0
Rellik San said:
There's actually a very sensible reason for this: Most windows 98 and 95 programs search for a "Win9x" command in the program to determine compatibility, to ensure legacy software still works, they had to skip 9 or else countless software (many out of business now) houses would have to patch near 20 year old code.
According to the conference, it was a marketing thing. You really don't need a number, after all, Windows 9 (or 15 if counting the other versions) aka Vista is not a number.

Apparently, they wanted to call it Windows one but go figures windows 1 has already been done.
 

CrystalShadow

don't upset the insane catgirl
Apr 11, 2009
3,829
0
0
Well, what's the excuse this time?

This just seems like blatant forced upgrading.

When they did the DirectX 10 XP/Vista thing, they had this huge story about how it would be very difficult to implement DX10 in XP because they had rewritten the entire structure of how windows Graphics drivers were implemented...

Did they bother with a technical excuse this time, or is it just 'suck it'?.
 

Hairless Mammoth

New member
Jan 23, 2013
1,595
0
0
Hey, MS, Steam OS and Open GL say hi. You might want Win 10's sales to rely less on forced obsolescence and more on quality UI and under-the-hood features.
 

gigastar

Insert one-liner here.
Sep 13, 2010
4,419
0
0
Oh well. Looks like DX11 is going to be the norm for a few more years anyway.

And by the time that ends, MS might have proven W10 to be not shit and i can just upgrade to that when its time to replace my deaktop.
 

DrunkOnEstus

In the name of Harman...
May 11, 2012
1,712
0
0
I have a really strong feeling that just like Halo 2 on XP back in the day, those few games that even (exclusively) use DX12 in the near future will only require a line in the .ini in order for it to work in 7. What's even their Halo 2 equivalent this time? The Master Chief collection?

If I were Microsoft, I'd be kinda worried on the DX front about Steam boxes and Linux gaming and OpenGL finally gaining a little ground, and to me making the newest API another forced OS upgrade doesn't seem like the smartest idea. People used XP for a long fucking time and still do, even after Microsoft essentially made it "unsafe".
 

Sofus

New member
Apr 15, 2011
223
0
0
It seems to me that Microsoft is throwing a tantrum.

Holding dx 12 hostage won't make me buy an OS that might suck when it comes to gaming. I'll switch once we have proof that it's worth getting.

Vista was garbage and win 8 was even worse... yeah I think i'll wait and see how it turns out.
 

EiMitch

New member
Nov 20, 2013
88
0
0
Micro$oft keeps making the same mistakes. They piss their customers off with a crap OS, then they win them back with a better OS, just in time to piss them off again with another crap OS that sucks in the same ways as last crap OS. Micro$oft never remembers their hard lessons. Its like they suffer from a greed-induced amnesia.

Earth to Micro$oft: you don't have a monopoly anymore. Why do you act like you still do? You're only driving people to buy Apple instead, including me. No, seriously. This was the last straw on a pile of lead. I'm going to buy a mac asap. I don't care if Windows 10 turns out to not suck. I don't want to be later forced to "upgrade" to the next ME/Vista/8. I've had enough of the $tupid cycle. And you Micro$oft had plenty of chances to learn from the same old mistakes. I won't give you another. F*** off and die with a whimper like myspace.
 

Saulkar

Regular Member
Legacy
Aug 25, 2010
3,142
2
13
Country
Canuckistan
I heard about DX10 running in some form or fashion on Windows XP, I wonder if anybody of a technical mindset would be willing to invest in creating a decent "unofficial" patch for WIN7. Yeaaahhhh, that would be nice.
 

RhombusHatesYou

Surreal Estate Agent
Mar 21, 2010
7,595
1,910
118
Between There and There.
Country
The Wide, Brown One.
Doom972 said:
Most PC games still use DirectX 9, some use DirectX 10, and few use DirectX 11, so I don't think that it's going to be a problem in the foreseeable future.
It's not going to be a problem. Until OSes with DX12 have a much, much larger install base very few publishers would even consider a DX12 only title. That means MS themselves would have to entice PC gamers to upgrade with their own offerings and I don't think they have enough exclusive content they could offer that would convince many PC gamers to bother.
 

seditary

New member
Aug 17, 2008
625
0
0
Can we finally start moving away from DirectX perhaps and not be subject to this tomfoolery again and again?
 

loa

New member
Jan 28, 2012
1,716
0
0
Your ransom has no weight if no game developer is stupid enough to support it.
Why would they carry your burden and heavily mimimize their audience just to help you throw your weight around instead of trying to convince people with a good product?
 

RhombusHatesYou

Surreal Estate Agent
Mar 21, 2010
7,595
1,910
118
Between There and There.
Country
The Wide, Brown One.
loa said:
Why would they heavily mimimize their audience just to help you throw your weight around instead of trying to convince people with a good product?
They could always try paying publishers to go DX12 only, although it would take a publisher with considerable contempt for the PC market to accept a deal like that... so they could pencil Ubisoft in.