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DirectX 12 comes to Windows 7, nine months from retirement...

ubersonic

ubersonic

ubersonic

Soldato
Joined
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Posts
22,175
In an odd move Microsoft are finally bringing DirectX 12 to Windows 7, albeit it seems to be for one game only but they say more are coming:

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/di...arcraft-uses-directx-12-running-on-windows-7/

Odd timing considering Windows 7 leaves extended support next January. However it's worth noting that this is game specific and the game doesn't even use 10% of DX12 features so it doesn't necessarily prove DX12 could have run on W7 all along as many are touting.
 
I’m amazed anyone still uses Win 7, unless some legacy software dictates the need.

Some people just can’t let go. :)
 
Still using Windows 7 64 here, I mean Windows 10 is really glorified spyware. I tried it out back in 2016 a for months before it became payware and it was incredibly ugly and intrusive. It was like it had a mind of it's own... I've only ever installed Windows 7 on my 9 year old machine once, it's always worked and without issue. Why try and fix something that isn't broken ?

The truth is that, there was no technical reason to why DX12 couldn't run on Windows 7, it was just a marketing ploy to get people to upgrade for that reason to Windows 10. It's the same code base.
 
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so dx12 to win 7 but not to the newer win 8.1?

that is so bizarre and all I can think off is that because blizzard has a lot of players on win7 they gave microsoft a bucket full of cash to port it over.
 
chrcoluk said:
so dx12 to win 7 but not to the newer win 8.1?

that is so bizarre and all I can think off is that because blizzard has a lot of players on win7 they gave microsoft a bucket full of cash to port it over.
Click to expand...
Its because there are vastly more people on win 7 than 8 1 and if someone's upgrading from win 7 it'll be to win 10 so not much point supporting win 8.1
 
well I upgraded from 7 to 8.1.

But yeah we basically agreeing with each other, it was done due to the popularity of windows 7 and blizzard leaning on microsoft to do it.
 
Having now seen that the Halo MCC is coming to Steam, I doubt the timing of both things being announced on the same day is a coincidence. Around 26% of Steam users are still on Windows 7, so I'm sure that Microsoft wants access to that audience. Combined with pressure from publishers like Activision and whoever else they're working with, it's probably worth their while. They can also use it as somewhat of a trojan horse in their quest to get people onto Windows 10. Get them hooked on a bunch of DX12 games throughout the year and then pull the rug out with an end to support for the games on that OS in early 2020 when it goes EoL, making it more likely that people will upgrade to Windows 10 to keep playing them.
 
HRL said:
I’m amazed anyone still uses Win 7, unless some legacy software dictates the need.

Some people just can’t let go. :)
Click to expand...

Generally it isn't because people are gripping onto 7...

Personally I do a lot of stuff where sustained and predictable/reliable uptime and minimum background process resource utilisation is a must, not business stuff, hobbies, etc. Windows 10 is absolutely trash for that - I also have a need for Windows in a portable context where I can just open a device and get going and have ability to manage battery life, Windows 7 lacks in newer support for chipsets or touchscreens, etc. Windows 8 is pretty good for that actually aside from having to find a start menu replacement (and ideally a shell replacement as stock Windows 8 looks ugly as ****) but again 10 is utterly trash.

I wouldn't mind so much if it was a case of paying the extra for Windows 10 professional and having an edition of the OS that MS actually trusted the end user to take some control even if they insisted in some of the silly approaches with home but it isn't.

When it has got to the point of them having to do stuff like:

Microsoft said:
Windows automatically installs updates to keep your device secure and running at peak efficiency. Occasionally, these updates can fail due to incompatibility or issues in new software. Your device has recently recovered from a startup failure if you have received this notification: "We removed some recently installed updates to recover your device from a startup failure." If Windows detects this, it will try to resolve the failure by uninstalling recently installed updates. This is only done when all other automatic recovery attempts have been unsuccessful.

To ensure that your device can start up and continue running as expected, Windows will also prevent problematic updates from installing automatically for the next 30 days. This will give Microsoft and our partners the opportunity to investigate the failure and fix any issues. After 30 days, Windows will again try to install the updates.
Click to expand...

They really should be taking a step back and re-evaluating how they go forward but unfortunately their heads are so firmly up their behinds that won't happen.
 
chrcoluk said:
well I upgraded from 7 to 8.1.

But yeah we basically agreeing with each other, it was done due to the popularity of windows 7 and blizzard leaning on microsoft to do it.
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8.1 is crap compared to both 10 and 7 tbh.

As for those saying w10 is spyware fester, there are tools to turn everything off with one click.

And to those of us who remember, Windows 7 was blamed for been spyware fested crap OS compared to XP.....

But many have the memory span of a goldfish.
 
HRL said:
I’m amazed anyone still uses Win 7, unless some legacy software dictates the need.

Some people just can’t let go. :)
Click to expand...

After the lemon that was Win 8/.1 I imagine some people aren't willing to take the plunge again. I think 10's every bit as good as 7.
 
Panos said:
8.1 is crap compared to both 10 and 7 tbh.

As for those saying w10 is spyware fester, there are tools to turn everything off with one click.

And to those of us who remember, Windows 7 was blamed for been spyware fested crap OS compared to XP.....

But many have the memory span of a goldfish.
Click to expand...

To be fair IIRC MS changed the Customer Experience Improvement Program and debug reports defaults to off and gives you full control (unless you install some recent telemetry updates :( ) in Windows 7. 10 is way worse for what it does debug/telemetry wise though than 7 and far less options for taking actual control of what it does and doesn't do.
 
Rroff said:
To be fair IIRC MS changed the Customer Experience Improvement Program and debug reports defaults to off and gives you full control (unless you install some recent telemetry updates :( ) in Windows 7. 10 is way worse for what it does debug/telemetry wise though than 7 and far less options for taking actual control of what it does and doesn't do.
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Yet there is a tool turning everything off with 1 click if you do not want to do it manually in the hosts file
 
Panos said:
Yet there is a tool turning everything off with 1 click if you do not want to do it manually in the hosts file
Click to expand...

Problem is with 10 - increasingly they've hardcoded functions to sneakily re-enable some of that stuff periodically and/or with new updates you never know what new stuff they've put in until the tool author updates unless you either block updates and risk security and/or only update when the various 3rd party software authors of the products you use to mange the OS update... what a mess.
 
Panos said:
Yet there is a tool turning everything off with 1 click if you do not want to do it manually in the hosts file
Click to expand...
There's no way to completely disable telemetry, even on the Enterprise builds. The main telemetry on/"off" toggle in the group policy editor states that quite clearly. "Minimal" telemetry will still be sent no matter what you do. The hosts file doesn't block anything - the OS bypasses it completely for such things. Grab something like mitmproxy and see for yourself. The only true way to block anything is via your router or using a PiHole or similar, but even then you're entering into a game of whack-a-mole with Microsoft and their ever-changing IPs.

It's fine if you just don't care about the telemetry aspects of Windows 10, but to say you can just "turn it off" that easily simply isn't true.
 
Panos said:
8.1 is crap compared to both 10 and 7 tbh.

As for those saying w10 is spyware fester, there are tools to turn everything off with one click.

And to those of us who remember, Windows 7 was blamed for been spyware fested crap OS compared to XP.....

But many have the memory span of a goldfish.
Click to expand...

They sneak them back on. If you use something like ShutUp10 after an update sometimes things have re-enabled themselves.
 
Panos said:
Guys, if you complain so much about security, why you still stick to MS? Switch to Linux.
Click to expand...

Maybe because people need Windows for various reasons?

Not everyone just uses a PC for web-browsing, listening to music and a bit of light gaming.
 
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