Microsoft is always working on DirectX behind the scenes, making large and small tweaks to the API. For its latest update, which brings the DirectX Agility SDK up to version 1.619, there are some exciting improvements to ray tracing performance.

I'm talking specifically about Shader Execution Reordering (SER), a feature that's arrived officially for DirectX Raytracing (DXR) 1.2. It had been in preview status since being announced last year at GDC 2025. The big news? Microsoft is seeing up to a 90% framerate increase with SER activated in early demos.

Let me back up for a moment. SER was originally unveiled by NVIDIA alongside its RTX 40-series graphics cards in 2022. It's a tool that reduces the performance cost of ray tracing, and not in a small way. Since its introduction, it has been used by NVIDIA and other developers, and it's a big part of Unreal Engine 5.

With Microsoft's standardized version of SER now available in DirectX, developers should have a much easier time implementingmore efficient ray tracing and path tracing across more than just NVIDIA's cards.

Why is Shader Execution Reordering (SER) in DirectX a big deal?

As Microsoft explains it in its DirectX SER blog post, one of the biggest performance hits when ray tracing comes from something called divergence.

Divergence generally occurs when rays are shot unpredictably through a scene. Bouncing rays off objects in a scene makes your game look a lot more realistic, but at the same time, it can cause a GPU to lose coherence. The GPU is forced to sort these rays sequentially rather than in parallel. It's inefficient, and it puts more load on the hardware.

Adding more ray tracing cores won't fix the issue because the process takes place at the shader level. SER solves this problem by allowing the shaders to group rays into coherent batches, allowing the GPU to tackle them in parallel.

SER works alongside something called Opacity Micromaps (OMMs), another feature that allows a GPU to skip unnecessary shading when a ray bounces off an alpha-tested object. As you can guess, together this reduces the load on a GPU, which in turn improves general performance.

Just how much of a performance gain can you expect? Microsoft gives us a couple of examples from its in-house testing using a specific demo that you can also test out yourself via a GitHub repo. With SER activated on an NVIDIA RTX 4090 GPU, tests show a whopping 40% framerate increase compared to not using SER at all.

What's more impressive is that Microsoft claims it saw "a couple configurations of Intel Arc B-Series GPUs" hit a massive 90% framerate improvement with SER activated.

Windows Central's take on Shader Execution Reordering (SER)

The huge performance gains provided by Microsoft are likely not indicative of what you can expect in real-world gaming. Nevertheless, making SER a standard feature in DirectX will make it far easier for developers to implement, and that's a win for everyone.

Given how demanding path tracing can be, SER could be one of the keys to unlocking gorgeous graphics on far more GPUs that wouldn't necessarily be able to keep up without the feature. Best part? You don't need a new GPU.

I want to know what you think!

What are your thoughts on Microsoft adding SER to its latest DirectX release? Do you think real-world performance will drop significantly compared to the demos? Which GPUs do you think have the most to gain? Let me know in the comments section!

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Microsoft has announced its presence at the Game Developers Conference, covering a wide range of topics, with Jason Ronald, VP of Next Generation, kicking off the Xbox Dev Summit on March 11, 2026.

That is just the start.

The schedule is packed with developer-focused sessions covering DirectX, gaming AI, and future-proofing workflows for a multi-device world. While nothing explicitly points to new hardware, these talks could offer insight into where Xbox is heading next, and may further support some of the rumors we have previously reported.

A clearer push toward PC and platform convergence

It feels as though the messaging from Xbox is very deliberate, framing everything around the ecosystem rather than a single device.

There is no direct mention of new hardware, but there is a clear emphasis on continuity across console, PC, cloud, and other devices. That aligns closely with Xbox’s current strategy.

First up is the Xbox Developer Summit on March 11, 2026, led by Jason Ronald, Xbox’s VP of Next Generation. He will reflect on 25 years of Xbox, from console to cloud, reference devices like the Xbox Ally, and outline the broader vision for a more flexible, connected future for developers.

Later that same day, Travis Bradshaw and Andy McCalib will host a session focused on how simple it has become to bring a PC game to Xbox. The presentation highlights improvements to onboarding and development workflows, reinforcing how closely PC and Xbox development now sit together.

While that does not confirm anything about new hardware, it does feed into ongoing speculation that the next Xbox could be even more closely aligned with Windows or just an entire Windows PC in itself.

There is a lot to unpack across the full schedule, and it is worth reviewing the complete list of sessions to see just how consistently this ecosystem-first message appears.

Does Xbox's strategy excite you, or have you lost interest? Let us know in the comments and make sure to take part in our poll below:

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

NVIDIA has received a fair amount of flak lately for its decision to release modern RTX 50-series graphics cards (GPU) with 8GB of VRAM.

There are 8GB versions of the RTX 5060 Ti alongside pricier 16GB models; the RTX 5060 non-Ti only has an 8GB version; and the RTX 5050, well, it has bigger problems than its 8GB of VRAM.

While NVIDIA made sure to boast about lower VRAM requirements from its latest GPU generation at its CES 2025 keynote — before all of these Blackwell GPUs hit the market — many users continue to experience problems running certain games at higher settings with an 8GB GPU.

The 8GB VRAM drama could soon come to an end, at least if some early tests performed by X user @opinali (via Wccftech) using NVIDIA's new Neural Texture Compression (NTC) and Microsoft's DirectX Raytracing 1.2 Cooperative Vector are true.

User opinali got their hands on an early NVIDIA preview driver (version 590.26) and, combined with an RTX NTC SDK beta from Github, performed some rendering tests to see how the new combination of NTC and DXR's Cooperative Vectors performs.

These tests are early and rudimentary, but on an NVIDIA RTX 5080 GPU, they're certainly promising.

Not only does the combination of NVIDIA NTC and DXR 1.2 Cooperative Vectors improve performance by nearly 80% while rendering, but it also drops VRAM usage by up to 90%. That's not a typo — I mean 90%.

I know that textures aren't the only load given to a GPU's VRAM, but they do take up a lot of space.

As opinali explains, "textures can be 50%-70% of the VRAM used by games, so this is HUGE. In a real game, considering bandwidth, GPU copy costs, cache efficiency ... I bet NTC will be easily a net win in [performance and FPS] too."

And as seen in the early tests from opinali, it also significantly improves the overall rendering performance, jumping from about 1,030 FPS using DP4A (standard) to 2,350 FPS using the default NTC and Cooperative Vectors setting.

It's impressive stuff, to say the least. If these same rendering gains arrive on the user end of the pipeline, the argument over whether or not 8GB VRAM is enough could become a moot point.

What is Neural Rendering and what are Cooperative Vectors?

Taking a step back for a moment, Microsoft announced in January 2025 that it's working with NVIDIA to bring neural rendering methods to DirectX via Cooperative Vectors.

NVIDIA's Neural Shaders are essentially small neural networks added to programmable shaders. The tech can reduce VRAM requirements by more than sevenfold, according to NVIDIA, compared to standard texture compression.

Neural Materials are made to handle more complex shaders, boosting processing time by up to fivefold, according to NVIDIA. And Neural Radiance Cache improves path-traced indirect lighting performance.

👉 Related: Microsoft and NVIDIA are teaming up to put more AI in your games — Neural Shading comes to DirectX soon

Microsoft's DirectX 12 Cooperative Vectors are what allow NVIDIA's neural network to operate in real time using AI hardware, including NVIDIA GPUs.

This is the first real look at what NVIDIA and Microsoft's partnership is set to hold, and it looks very promising.

What about AMD and Intel GPUs?

Opinali returned to X bearing some information regarding AMD RDNA 4 performance using Neural Texture Compression with an AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT.

While there is not yet a DXR 1.2 driver available for AMD cards, opinali was only able to run the rendering test in DP4A mode. Early results are nevertheless promising.

They saw the 9070 XT beat NVIDIA's RTX 5080 by about 10% using Vulkan, with a 110% increase using DirectX 12 in DP4A rendering. It's important to note that NVIDIA's preview driver isn't great, and that's likely why there's such a massive increase on the DX12 side.

These are all very early tests, but it's looking promising for RDNA 4 GPUs as well as NVIDIA's Blackwell hardware.

Plenty of news regarding GPUs and the tech behind them has come out of GDC 2025, and Microsoft has now announced an update to DirectX Raytracing (DXR) at its DirectX State of the Union presentation.

Microsoft Principal Program Manager Cassie Hoef posted more information about the DirectX Raytracing 1.2 update in Microsoft's Dev Blogs, stating:

"This update promises groundbreaking performance improvements and breathtaking visual fidelity, marking another milestone in our mission to deliver immersive, realistic experiences to gamers everywhere."

The update will affect Microsoft's partners like NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm, who rely on Microsoft's tools to implement the latest tech into their hardware and games.

Also shared by Microsoft is more information regarding cooperative vectors and neural rendering, which I wrote about following the GDC Advanced Graphics Summit hosted earlier this week.

DirectX Raytracing (DXR) — What is it?

DirectX Raytracing (DXR) is an add-on for DirectX 12 that was introduced by Microsoft at the same GDC conference in 2018.

The API is what allows modern GPUs to power ray tracing via DirectX without getting in the way of standard rasterization, with performance being shared between the two methods.

The new DXR 1.2 is set to add "game-changing performance boosts" on the backs of two new technologies.

Here's how Microsoft explains them:

• Opacity micromaps significantly optimize alpha-tested geometry, delivering up to 2.3x performance improvement in path-traced games. By efficiently managing opacity data, OMM reduces shader invocations and greatly enhances rendering efficiency without compromising visual quality.
• Shader execution reordering offers a major leap forward in rendering performance — up to 2x faster in some scenarios — by intelligently grouping shader execution to enhance GPU efficiency, reduce divergence, and boost frame rates, making raytraced titles smoother and more immersive than ever. This feature paves the way for more path-traced games in the future. 

The standout number here is the 2.3x performance jump in path-traced games using DXR 1.2 opacity micromaps.

Path tracing is a more intensive and complex version of ray tracing, and it understandably requires a lot more power from your GPU even compared to normal ray tracing. This level of performance boost isn't minor.

The other big performance jump is the "up to 2x faster" rendering performance thanks to shader execution reordering.

Not only does it improve efficiency and boost frame rates, it's also expected — according to Microsoft — to raise the appeal of path tracing in games due to the reduced performance costs.

Microsoft says NVIDIA is already on board with driver support for its RTX GPUs (going back to RTX 20-series), while it's still working with AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm "to ensure widespread adoption."

DXR 1.2 also comes to PIX on day one

PIX is a DirectX 12 tool used by game developers to debug and tune performance. It's set to receive DXR 1.2 support from day one.

Microsoft outlines a number of new tools for PIX:

• PIX API Preview: A brand-new API giving developers programmatic access to PIX functionality and data via a D3D12-like API, available in C++, C# and Python. A private preview is coming in April 2025.
• Custom Visualizers: Building on announcements over the past year, we announced new functionality to give unprecedented customization while viewing buffers, meshes, and textures inside the PIX UI.
• PIX UX Refresh: A modernized, more intuitive, and more discoverable user experience is coming to PIX in April 2025! The many improvements include a new Visual Studio-like layout editor system, unlocking more PIX UI customization than ever before.

Microsoft shares key uses for neural rendering

It's no secret that Microsoft has been working with NVIDIA to bring neural rendering and cooperative vectors to DirectX.

More information was shared at GDC 2025 earlier in the week, this specific quote coming from Direct3D development manager Shawn Hargreaves:

"Microsoft is adding cooperative vector support to DirectX and HLSL, starting with a preview this April. This will advance the future of graphics programming by enabling neural rendering across the gaming industry. Unlocking Tensor Cores on NVIDIA RTX will allow developers to fully leverage RTX Neural Shaders for richer, more immersive experiences on Windows."

Microsoft showed off how these technologies will directly affect game development and play:

• Neural Block Texture Compression is a new graphics technique that dramatically reduces memory usage, while maintaining exceptional visual fidelity. Overall, our partners at Intel shared that by leveraging cooperative vectors to power advanced neural compression models, they saw a 10x speed up in inference performance.
• Real-time path tracing can be enhanced by neural supersampling and denoising, combining two of the most cutting-edge graphics innovations to provide realistic visuals at practical performance levels.

So, how long do developers have to wait to get their hands on DXR 1.2?

Not long at all. Microsoft says the full package with DXR 1.2, PIX updates, and cooperative vectors is coming to a preview Agility SDK toward the end of April.

Microsoft announced a partnership with NVIDIA in January to integrate the latter company's AI neural rendering technology into the DirectX pipeline.

The partnership, which was shared initially by Microsoft without a whole lot of information, hasn't been sitting dormant, and NVIDIA has shared more details ahead of GDC 2025.

The major news to focus on here, especially if you're a developer, is that NVIDIA's neural shading support is expected to arrive for Microsoft's DirectX 12 Agility software dev kit preview sometime in April.

Once enabled, developers will be able to employ the Tensor cores — made specifically for AI tasks — in RTX GPUs to "accelerate neural networks from within a game's graphics pipeline."

Microsoft Direct3D development manager, Shawn Hargreaves, is quoted in NVIDIA's press release as stating:

"Microsoft is adding cooperative vector support to DirectX and HLSL, starting with a preview this April. This will advance the future of graphics programming by enabling neural rendering across the gaming industry. Unlocking Tensor Cores on NVIDIA RTX will allow developers to fully leverage RTX Neural Shaders for richer, more immersive experiences on Windows."

As it stands now, AI is used in gaming for things like interpolation, ray reconstruction, and to generate completely new frames from those rendered with "brute force" by the GPU's hardware.

For example, NVIDIA's major addition to DLSS 4 is Multi Frame Generation (MFG), a technology that allows RTX 5000 GPUs to render up to three additional frames with AI for each "natural" frame.

It's part of the trick behind NVIDIA's CES 2025 claims that the RTX 5070 could offer RTX 4090 performance for a fraction of the cost, which was skewered in RTX 5070 reviews.

With NVIDIA and Microsoft's partnership for neural shaders and DirectX, AI is now capable of wading further into the graphics pipeline to help render the first frame that was traditionally created without any AI help.

If you are already sick of hearing about AI in your video games, it's not going to get any better anytime soon. For those on the other side of the fence, this should come as intriguing news.

What are NVIDIA RTX Neural Shaders?

NVIDIA introduced RTX Neural Shaders at CES alongside its Blackwell GPU architecture.

Neural shaders, as explained by NVIDIA, are small neural networks injected into programmable shaders.

I'll admit that the developer side of NVIDIA's business is often over my head, but there are some clear advantages for the average PC gamer.

Using an RTX-powered PC — NVIDIA's Tensor cores are key here — developers can actually train AI using shader code and game data.

NVIDIA lays out three applications for the technology, and they can all directly benefit gamers.

RTX Neural Texture Compression can, according to NVIDIA, reduce necessary VRAM by more than sevenfold compared to standard texture compression without harming visual fidelity.

This should be big news for anyone using a GPU with 8GB of VRAM, as I've seen NVIDIA's 8GB RTX 4060 struggling mightily with games like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

RTX Neural Materials is better equipped to handle complex shaders; NVIDIA says it can improve processing by up to five times faster without harming quality or frame rates.

RTX Neural Radiance Cache employs AI to vastly improve path-traced indirect lighting performance; it's one of the new technologies available in RTX Remix, which has now exited its beta stage.

What are Cooperative Vectors?

You're not doubt going to be hearing a lot about cooperative vectors from the NVIDIA and Microsoft partnership.

Cooperative vectors are essentially what allow NVIDIA's neural network to function in real time within the DirectX pipeline using AI hardware (like RTX GPUs).

It remains unclear if cooperative vectors will also be compatible with Intel's XMX and AMD's RDNA hardware. It's looking like, at least for now, this initiative will remain an NVIDIA exclusive.

There's intriguing advancements ahead in the future for PC gaming.

In a recent blog post, Microsoft explained how the company is partnering with NVIDIA to support the latter's neural rendering software by bringing so-called cooperative vectors to DirectX. This means that NVIDIA's neural shaders will see better performance on RTX Tensor Cores when developers are using DirectX.

“Microsoft is excited to partner with NVIDIA to catalyze this next generation of graphics programming by bringing industry-wide support for neural shading technology,” adds Bryan Langley, partner group program manager of silicon, media, and graphics at Microsoft. “DirectX will soon support Cooperative Vectors, which will unlock the power of Tensor Cores on NVIDIA GeForce RTX hardware and enable game developers to fully accelerate neural shaders on Windows.”

Now, that post was a bit limited, as Microsoft didn't outline much for now beyond the use of cooperative vectors. Still, there's more to come, with sources indicating to Windows Central that Microsoft is continuing to push neural rendering research in order to benefit game development beyond what's been published so far.

What is neural rendering?

Neural rendering is essentially a family of methods that use artificial intelligence to improve software development, including through something called neural shaders, which allow developers to train their data in a number of ways.

For NVIDIA's current work, this is expanding through neural shaders, which brings neural network support to adjustable shaders. These neural shaders allow developers access to new technologies that can be used in a lot of ways, but by far one of the most intriguing possibilities is better texture compression, which would benefit game developers and players alike.

This means possibly saving on the amount of VRAM or system memory that a game may need in order to run. NVIDIA claims that neurally compressed textures can save up to 7 times as much space compared to normal compression methods.

That's potentially a huge deal on the gaming side, as VRAM requirements in particular have blown up over the last year, requiring players to have higher-end hardware in order to run games at absolute max settings. In particular, NVIDIA's lower-end GPU lineup has come under a bit of scrutiny, with cards like the RTX 4060 not having enough VRAM for the price when playing the latest games like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. All of this comes down to implementation and usage, but it'll be interesting to keep an eye alongside any future advancements from Microsoft.

NVIDIA is aiming to bring neural shaders to developers with its NVIDIA RTX kit sometime around the end of January. With the upcoming launch of the 50-series graphics cards, there's plenty to look forward to in PC gaming. More and more games are supporting new advanced technologies, such as path tracing in DOOM: The Dark Ages.

What you need to know

• PC players of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 are still being plagued by a DirectX related bug that crashes the game.
• It's been present since launch day and, as yet, remains unfixed.
• There are some things you can try in the game to mitigate the impact of this bug, namely lowering some of your settings.

Everyone will have a different opinion on Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, but on the whole, it seems like the latest installment in the franchise is a hit. The maps aren't very inspiring, but the gameplay with its new Omnimovement is fantastic, and leading to some incredible (and hilarious) action.

But there's one thing that's spoiling the experience. It's not cheaters, either, though those guys are still irritating. It's a horrible DirectX bug which completely freezes the game, then crashes to desktop as seen in the image above.

I'm not alone on this, as you don't have to search for long to find plenty of people seeing the same issue. It's been present since day one in my experience, but it seems completely random as to when it'll trigger. Though in recent days it's been getting a lot worse, crashing three or four times a day.

While we wait for Microsoft (or the Activision part of Microsoft) to actually fix it, the community has come together and come up with some suggestions that can help mitigate the issue. I've tried some, which I'll detail below, and so far at least, it's been holding up better.

If you're on Steam, you can try forcing Black Ops 6 to use DX11 over DX12. In the launch options for the game (found in the game's properties menu in your Steam library) enter -d3d11. I can't speak from experience whether this works out well, as I don't have the game on Steam, but it's an old favorite to try.

On the Game Pass/Microsoft Store version, we don't have that option, so we need to get inside the game.

The first thing to try is lowering your display resolution, in my case down to 1080p from 1440p. Some suggest turning DLSS off if you have that enabled, but at the very least I'd make sure you're not running it on the quality preset. Lowering the texture quality is another step to try, as is setting the VRAM target to 60. In my case, I lowered resolution, lowered textures, and changed DLSS to balanced from its default of quality, and with all my fingers crossed, it's been holding up a little better.

In the Xbox app on Windows 11 you can also try the Verify and Repair feature by clicking on the three dots, then Manage, then select the Files tab. If the game has been crashing a lot, it's worth doing this at least once just to make sure everything is OK.

Ultimately, it needs Microsoft/Activision to issue a proper fix. But in the meantime, try lowering your settings and reducing the stress on your system. It might help.

What you need to know

• At GDC 2024, Microsoft revealed its DirectSR (Direct Super Resolution) API, designed to simplify the upscaling implementation process for developers.
• The cutting-edge tech will support both the Windows and Xbox ecosystems. 
• DirectSR suppports multiple upscaling techniques with a standard interface.
• New upscaling techniques with new parameters will be incorporated via an update to facilitate additional support. 

We all know the crucial role video upscaling plays in gameplay and general performance. Microsoft has been instrumental in ensuring that developers can unlock the full potential of your computer's hardware via its DirectX software. 

Toward the end of last month, we learned that the tech giant was gearing up to unveil DirectX 'DirectSR' super-resolution graphics tech at the just-concluded GDC 2024. Microsoft's program manager, Joshua Tucker, described the technology as the “missing link” between games and super-resolution technologies. The concept behind DirectSR is to simplify the upscaling implementation process.

Most modern PC games are somewhat resource-hungry and demand some of the latest tech, including CPUs and GPUs. But Microsoft's cutting-edge DirectSR technology aims to bridge this gap, at least according to Dev Manager at Microsoft's Direct3D division, Shawn Hargreaves (via 4Gamer). It's worth noting that NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel all collaborated to bring this technology to fruition. 

Microsoft's DirectSR tech supports multiple upscaling techniques, thus making it easier to leverage its capabilities on games, ultimately lessening the burden for developers. The tech is expected to ship as part of Direct SuperResolution and will be supported across Windows PCs and Xbox consoles. However, other versions of the tech will be limited to specific GPU and NPU models.

Developers will be required to provide the following list inputs for the algorithm:

• Source color image
• Source depth
• Source image region (optional)
• Motion vectors
• Motion vectors scale
• Camera jitter
• Exposure and Pre-Exposure
• Exposure scale texture
• Ignore history mask
• Reactive mask
• Sharpness
• Image regions

Microsoft intends to take a load off the developers' shoulders by handling most of the groundwork, including all the parameters that might be required for upscaling. This way, it will be easier for the developer to identify and select the specific technique they'd like to use, ultimately making the implementation process simpler.

If a new upscaling technique is released with new parameters, the DirectSR runtime can easily be updated to reflect the same. To this end, it remains unclear when Microsoft will ship the tech to general availability, but it's already in the development phase.

What you need to know

• Super resolution tech uses machine learning to enhance visuals and performance in scenarios where raw graphical power isn't always available. 
• NVIDIA DLSS is the most famous solution, although Intel's XeSS and AMD's FidelityFX have also gained ground. 
• Now, Microsoft is joining the fray with DirectSR, as part of the DirectX 12 suite. 
• Microsoft will demonstrate DirectSR in more detail at GDC 2024 on March 21, and says that the API will unify different solutions on Windows with a single code path. 

DirectX 12 is gaining an exciting new feature, per Microsoft. 

DirectX is Microsoft's suite of APIs for producing multimedia applications on Windows-based devices. DirectX provides a consistent interface for software and hardware developers, creating applications and accessories most commonly associated with video games in recent times. 

Related: What is DirectX?

The latest version of DirectX, known as DX12, enabled improvements such as ray tracing, variable rate shading, mesh shaders, and other features that result in more photorealistic graphics. A lot of these improvements have generally focused on higher-end computers and visuals, but this latest one could bring benefits to gamers on the lower-end of the spectrum too — and perhaps even Xbox Series S consoles. 

Speaking on the DirectX blog, Joshua Tucker from the DirectX team revealed DirectSR, SR meaning Super Resolution, set to debut at GDC 2024 on March 21st. 

We’re thrilled to announce DirectSR, our new API designed in partnership with GPU hardware vendors to enable seamless integration of Super Resolution (SR) into the next generation of games," Tucker elaborated, "Super Resolution is a cutting-edge technique that increases the resolution and visual quality in games. DirectSR is the missing link developers have been waiting for when approaching SR integration, providing a smoother, more efficient experience that scales across hardware."

Some had been expecting that Microsoft might introduce its own proprietary solution for resolution upscaling, which allows you to get a cleaner, crisper image without sacrificing performance in some scenarios. Instead, Microsoft is positioning DirectSR as a method for improving existing solutions, such as NVIDIA DLSS, AMD FidelityFX, and Intel's XeSS tech to create a unified structure for leveraging the tech.

Additionally, Microsoft will debut a new shader interface at GDC, dubbed Shader Model 6.8, as well as new features for PIX all set to launch alongside a new Agility SDK.

Machine learning and upscaling will have a big role to play in future console generations

Microsoft (and Sony too) generally partner with AMD for their game consoles, owing to the relative affordability when compared to other chips. Microsoft's rumored next-gen consoles have even been exploring ARM processor architecture, presumably to find ways to reduce costs. Historically, video game consoles have come down in cost over the course of a generation, but it hasn't happened this time around due to the A.I. and cloud server gold rush. All types of chips are faced with shortages, and that has kept costs high for Microsoft and Sony, as other costs have crept up as well. 

To that end, you have to wonder what type of role super resolution and machine learning technology could have in the next console generation to lengthen the generation and add value. Microsoft is naturally positioned to leverage things like A.I. as well for supporting visuals, both from a developer side and perhaps even on the client-side as well. 

We'll find out more from GDC about how Microsoft plans to leverage this tech, and whether or not it could bring benefits not just to Windows gaming PCs and gaming laptops, but also Xbox consoles. 

What you need to know

• Forspoken is an upcoming action-RPG game published by Square Enix and developed by Luminous Productions.
• The game's PC performance targets and spec requirements have been officially revealed.
• Forspoken will be the first PC game to fully support Microsoft's DirectStorage APIs for faster load times.
• Forspoken officially releases on Windows PCs and PS5 (as a console exclusive) on Jan. 24, 2023.

Forspoken is one of the first major releases of the year for PlayStation gamers, as it's a PS5 console exclusive that isn't heading to Xbox any time soon. However, those still invested in Microsoft's platform will still be able to experience Forspoken on a Windows PC, as the game launches day one through Steam and the Microsoft Store. On Tuesday, the Forspoken team revealed the game's PC performance targets and spec requirements.

Forspoken clearly demands a lot from the hardware on which it runs, since gamers will need a PC equipped with the latest and greatest components from NVIDIA, Intel, and AMD in order to push the title up to 4K and 60 FPS. Even achieving the minimum 720p and 30 FPS requires 16GB of RAM and at least an NVIDIA GTX 1060 with 6GB of VRAM. You can view the exact requirements and targets in the tweet above.

At least the PC-specific version of Forspoken will support additional features, such as customizable resolutions and aspect ratios (all the way up to 32:9 wide screen), Windows 11's dynamic refresh rate, HDR support, keyboard and mouse input, 7.1 surround sound, and more.

Forspoken is also the first PC game confirmed to fully support Microsoft's DirectStorage feature on Windows 11 PCs, which optimizes your SSD to achieve the fastest load times and most seamless transitions in games. With DirectStorage and the rest of the DirectX 12 Ultimate suite of features and APIs, Forspoken should provide a similar experience to the latest current-gen games on Xbox Series X|S and PS5.

In order to get the most out of Forspoken, you'll want an NVMe SSD and the latest version of Windows 11, although the game should run well on Windows 10 computers as well. It remains to be seen if Forspoken has what it takes to join the best PC games, but we won't have to wait long to find out. Forspoken releases on PS5 and Windows PCs on Jan. 24, 2023, and can now be pre-ordered directly from the Microsoft Store.

Windows Central's take

I can't claim to be overtly excited about Forspoken, a sentiment that matches many others who have failed to see the appeal in existing trailers and gameplay footage. I'm also concerned by the gap between the game's perceived visual fidelity and the abnormally high requirements to run the game on Windows PC, with even solid mid-range gaming PCs apparently struggling to play Forspoken beyond 30FPS.

Still, it's great to see games begin to support DirectStorage on Windows 11, which should help bridge the gap further between Microsoft's Xbox ecosystem and PC gamers. Anything that provides a superior gaming experience on existing hardware should be celebrated, and I'm interested to see how DirectStorage translates to real-world gains with titles like Forspoken. It's also intriguing that the first game to support a brand-new Microsoft gaming feature would be a PlayStation console exclusive.

What you need to know

• The Intel Graphics Beta Driver 31.0.101.3959 supports Arc A-series GPUs, including the A310, A380, A750, A770, and mobile chips.
• Performance improvements include optimizations for games running DirectX 9, including League of Legends and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
• Enhancements to recent DirectX 11 and 12 titles include Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 (DX12) and DOTA 2 (DX11.)
• Intel reports average framerates were up to 1.8x faster than the previous driver in its internal testing.

Intel has released beta driver 31.0.101.3959 for the Arc series of GPUs, including improvements for games targeting DirectX 9 and above. This latest update supports its A-series desktop cards and mobile chips, including the Intel Arc A750 and A770 that launched as recently as October 2022.

Compared to the v3490 launch driver, the top-end Arc 770 shows a significant improvement (via Intel) in testing benchmarks, including an average of 318 FPS in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive running DirectX 9 in 1080p with the new v3953 driver, an impressive increase from 177 FPS average in the same game previously.

In a video presentation, Intel confesses its dissatisfaction with DirectX 9 performance upon the launch of the Arc GPUs. They continue demonstrating improvements in this new driver, including the claimed 1.8x faster performance for average FPS versus the previous version.

Side-by-side footage shows overall improvements to smoothness during CS: GO gameplay, thanks to 2.3x faster performance on the 99th percentile of FPS with the new driver, at least on the Arc 770 Limited Edition GPU. Closing out its video shows the configuration of its test bench, and it's no slouch.

• CPU: Intel Core i9-12900K
• Motherboard: ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero
• RAM: Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 32GB (2x 16GB) DDR5 @ 5600MHz C36
• Storage: Corsair MP600 Pro XT 4TB NVMe SSD
• OS: Windows 11 Pro 22621.608

Taking only these components into account would run a budget of around $2,400 minimum (via PC Part Picker,) somewhat separating it from the intended marketing of Intel Arc 700-series GPUs being great value for mid-range gaming versus the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060. Still, the improvements are something to behold and should reflect on practically any suitable system using these affordable graphics cards.

Not entirely focusing on DirectX 9 legacy titles, this latest driver also includes improvements for DirectX 11 and 12 titles. New Intel Game On support includes modern titles such as World of Warcraft: Dragonflight and The Callisto Protocol, which recently launched a flawed PC version, requiring tweaks to improve performance.

"We won’t be stopping here; we still have more work to do! Further improvements for games based on legacy APIs and general driver enhancements are on their way and future drivers will continue our march to a refined and more performant product," says Ryan Shrout, senior director of graphics marketing at Intel.

Performance improvements of this magnitude to GPUs only two months after release are impressive, and Intel claims they are committed to the future of its Arc range. You can download the new beta driver from the official Intel website.

What you need to know

• Gears 5 and Gears Tactics now support Variable Rate Shading (VRS) Tier 2 on all DirectX 12 Ultimate supported devices.
• VRS is a development technique that can have significant performance gains with GPU-intensive titles like the Gears games.
• With Tier 2 support, Gears 5 and Gears Tactics are on the cutting edge and can gain bigger performance boosts with fewer visual anomalies.
• The Coalition has also released a blog post detailing how they implemented VRS Tier 2 and how it helps their games.

The Coalition, the studio behind the storied Gears franchise, is well-known for constantly pushing the boundaries for what can be accomplished on Microsoft's hardware. Still, they're far from stopping after the release of next-gen consoles like the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. Today, the DirectX 12 Ultimate team has announced that Gears 5 and Gears Tactics now support VRS Tier 2 on all supported devices, including Xbox Series X|S and certain PCs running modern GPUs from AMD and NVIDIA.

Variable Rate Shading (VRS) is a rendering technique that can improve performance in GPU-intensive games by analyzing a scene and applying more GPU power to more essential parts of the screen. VRS Tier 1 already provided pretty sizeable gains for games like Gears Tactics, but VRS Tier 2 increases the performance gains while reducing any visual tears or anomalies that occasionally occurred before. The Coalition have officially implemented VRS Tier 2 in Gears 5 and Gears Tactics, with up to 14% gains in performance with no visual impacts!

If you want the full run-down, Microsoft has a new blog post up detailing everything you need to know about VRS Tier 2 in Gears 5 and Gears Tactics. Either way, this is impressive tech and hints at the future of the Xbox Series X|S and the kinds of things DirectX 12 Ultimate will be capable of as we move forward with brand-new gaming hardware.

Gears 5 and Gears Tactics are already lookers, but the games and VRS both shine, especially when playing at higher resolutions like 4K. To get the most out of both, consider one of the Best 4K TVs for Xbox Series X|S to upgrade your visuals. Both games are also available through Xbox Game Pass, so you can play them without needing to commit to a full purchase.

Related: Read our Gears Tactics full review!

What you need to know

• The Xbox Velocity Architecture is part of what makes the Xbox Series X so formidable as a gaming platform.
• Today, Microsoft announced they're bringing a part of this revolutionary Architecture to Windows gaming PC's.
• DirectStorage will massively reduce load times for games, allowing PC games to more effectively use high-speed storage solutions.
• If you have a speedy SSD and a game supports DirectStorage, load and wait times will be much shorter.

One of the numerous reasons the Xbox Series X is shaping up to be a gaming powerhouse is the addition of Xbox Velocity Architecture, a suite of gaming technologies that helps the Xbox Series X more effectively take advantage of its substantially more powerful hardware over previous generations. A part of this Architecture is the DirectStorage API, which will allow next-gen games to take advantage of the Xbox Series X's lightning fast SSD to greatly reduce how long we sit around waiting for things to load.

In a recent blog post, Microsoft announced that DirectStorage will also come to Windows PC's, teaming up with DirectX 12 Ultimate to bring gaming to incredible new levels, and better take advantage of newer and faster SSD's, and other components like NVIDIA's impressive 30 Series GPU's. In the future, games that take advantage of this new API won't be bottlenecked by older standards, and will truly be able to utilize everything that's offered by modern storage solutions.

To put it into short terms, DirectStorage API avoids the flaws of older storage APIs by being able handle far more simultaneous requests for data and information from games, leading to more efficient use of bandwith and consequently far faster speeds. On the other end of things, this also allows games to become bigger and more detailed using the same hardware that exists right now, solely because they're better able to use what's already there.

To take advantage of DirectStorage on your Windows PC, you'll need one of the best SSD's available, and more specifically an NVMe drive. NVMe drives are the storage of choice for DirectStorage because of the way they work and their blazing fast speeds, so if you haven't upgraded already it may be time to think about it.

What do you think about the DirectStorage API? Are you excited to have this important facet of the Xbox Series X make its way to gaming PC's? Let us know in the comments below!

Xbox Series X/S

Main

• Xbox Series X: Everything we know
• Best games coming to Xbox Series X/S
• List of Xbox Series X specs
• What is the Xbox Series X release date?
• How much does Xbox Series X cost?
• Why you can't preorder Xbox Series X yet
• Best Xbox Series X Headsets

DirectX first made its debut back in 1996, and it forms the basis for why Windows dominates gaming. When the feature was first rolled out back on Windows 95, it allowed game developers access to low-level hardware features, allowing them to fine-tune games.

DirectX is a big deal, because without it there would be no way for games to access the hardware on Windows. Unlike a console like the Xbox One — where there's a single video card — Windows gives you a plethora of choice when it comes to hardware configurations. With options ranging from the budget GeForce GTX 1660 all the way to the $1,430 GeForce RTX 2080 Ti along with hundreds of motherboards and chipsets, there's limitless choice when you're building a new PC.

This makes it harder for PC game developers, as they have to fine-tune settings and textures for a wide variety of configurations. That's where DirectX comes in handy. The feature allows games to "talk" to the hardware directly, and this makes it easier for game makers to deliver optimized settings for each configuration.

What is DirectX anyway?

DirectX is a series of application programming interfaces (API) that provide low-level access to hardware components like video cards, the sound card, and memory. If that sounded too complex, let's break things down. At a basic level, DirectX allows games to "talk" to video cards. In the DOS days, games had direct access to video cards and the motherboard, and you could directly edit the configuration file to make changes.

But with Windows 95, Microsoft restricted access to low-level hardware as a security measure. That meant that games could no longer interact with low-level hardware features, and it was a problem. So to facilitate that access, Microsoft introduced DirectX — think of DirectX as a middleman that facilitates communication between a game and a video card.

DirectX isn't the only API protocol that's available today, but it is native to Windows — unlike the OpenGL standard — and that's what gives it an edge. And with DirectX 12 Ultimate, Microsoft is blurring the line between the PC and Xbox Series X, making it that much easier for game developers to tailor games to each platform.

Why does DirectX 12 Ultimate matter for gaming?

DirectX 12 Ultimate uses the DirectX 12 foundation and includes a few new features that have emerged over the last two years. First and foremost is DirectX Raytracing 1.1; with more and more games picking up ray tracing, DirectX 12 Ultimate natively integrates the feature into Windows as well as Microsoft's upcoming console, the Xbox Series X.

DirectX 12 Ultimate also has variable rate shading, allowing a GPU to utilize its resources more effectively for rendering in-focus objects, leading to better frame rates and more fidelity. You also get features like Sampler Feedback that increase texture quality while utilizing fewer resources, and overall you get a suite of changes that should make next-gen games run smoother.

Essentially, DirectX 12 Ultimate facilitates game makers to deliver more immersive games with higher-quality textures and life-like lighting, and with these features baked into Windows, you'll immediately start seeing a difference provided you have a video card that works with the latest version of DirectX.

While it is exciting to see DirectX 12 Ultimate debut on the Xbox Series X, it is coming to Windows PCs first. It is already rolling out to NVIDIA's GeForce RTX series video cards, and Microsoft says the tech will be on "millions" of video cards before its console rolls around later this year. Be sure to check out our guide of the best graphics cards for upgrade options and more information.

What you need to know

• Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 specifications were revealed a few weeks ago.
• The Xbox Series X features a more powerful CPU and GPU.
• A Crytek developer recently said that the PS5 was "better" because it was easier to program for.
• Now he's retracted that statement.

Ever since the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 (PS5) specifications were revealed, there has been a lot of debate about which console is "better." While the Xbox Series X has a raw power advantage that should result in better in-game effects and possibly resolutions, the PS5 has a faster solid-state drive which should help games load a little faster.

However, there's another debate raging about which console is easier to program for. A few days ago, a Crytek engineer by the name of Ali Salehi said that the PS5 was "a better console" because "developers are saying PS5 is the easiest console they have ever coded on to reach its peak performance. Software-wise, coding for PS5 is extremely simple and has so many abilities."

In the original interview, Salehi said that DirectX 12 hadn't been updated for a long time, and curious omitted any mention of DirectX 12 Ultimate. It's unclear if he's had any time with the Xbox Series X development kit, which is regarded quite favorably by the industry judging by our conversations. It also came across as odd, given that Salehi made no mention of DirectX 12 Ultimate, which was announced just recently. It's unclear when the original interview was recorded, but since then, Salehi hasn't commented DirectX 12 Ultimate.

Yesterday, GamesRadar+ said that Salehi had retracted his statements as stated by the outlet that interviewed him, Vigiato. GamesRadar+ wrote the following.

It's unclear what these "personal reasons" are, but as a multi-platform third-party developer, it's unlikely that Crytek wants to be seen as favoring either company, particularly before kits have even shipped to third parties, and particularly given that Salehi made no mention of how DirectX 12 Ultimate and other new features may impact development pipelines.

Xbox Series X/S

Main

• Xbox Series X: Everything we know
• Best games coming to Xbox Series X/S
• List of Xbox Series X specs
• What is the Xbox Series X release date?
• How much does Xbox Series X cost?
• Why you can't preorder Xbox Series X yet
• Best Xbox Series X Headsets

What you need to know

• AMD's RDNA 2 gaming architecture will fully support DirectX 12 Ultimate.
• RDNA 2 will power the next generation of AMD Radeon graphics cards and the Xbox Series X.
• DirectX 12 Ultimate brings DirectX Raytracing, Variable Rate Shading, Mesh Shaders, and more features to devices.

AMD announced today that its upcoming RDNA 2 gaming architecture will fully support DirectX 12 Ultimate. AMD RDNA 2 will power the next generation of AMD Radeon graphics cards and the Xbox Series X. The architecture has four key features, DirectX Raytracing (DXR), Variable Rate Shading (VRS), Mesh Shaders, and Sampler Feedback.

DXR makes games look more realistic. AMD and Microsoft worked together to design DXR 1.1, which is an update to the original DXR. The newer version features better performance and improved efficiency for many raytracing effects. AMD states that when devices such as PCs and consoles support DXR 1.1 and AMD RDNA 2 architecture that gamers will "experience stunning, next-level visuals in games that support DirectX 12 Ultimate." AMD shared the video below to show off these features in action.

One of the main benefits of companies like AMD and Microsoft working on a unified standard is that new features will be in more games. AMD states that "With this new common graphics standard for both PC and consoles, gamers can expect to see advanced effects like raytracing come to more games sooner." AMD adds that DirectX 12 Ultimate also makes things easier for developers.

Many of the features that are available through DirectX 12 Ultimate are already available, but bringing them into a unified suite makes it easier for developers to utilize them. With DirectX 12 Ultimate working on the Xbox Series X and AMD's new RDNA 2 gaming architecture supporting it, developers will produce quite a few titles that use the latest features.

There's a lot to digest when it comes to DirectX 12 Ultimate. We break down its features, what makes it unique, and what it means for gamers in our post covering DirectX 12 Ultimate's announcement.

DirectX 12 debuted six years ago, introducing a new Direct3D graphics API that was more energy efficient and highly scalable across not just various PC form factors, but also the Xbox One. As we're on the cusp on next-gen consoles like the Xbox Series X, Microsoft is rolling out an update to DirectX — dubbed DirectX 12 Ultimate — that brings exciting new features like ray tracing and variable rate shading natively to PCs and upcoming consoles.

Microsoft says that DirectX 12 Ultimate is the "best graphics technology" it has ever introduced, with an "unprecedented alignment" between the PC and Xbox Series X. Microsoft is baking next-gen features like ray tracing, variable rate shading, mesh shaders, and sampler feedback directly into DirectX 12 Ultimate, and the company notes that its HLSL compiler and PIX graphics optimization tool will be available to developers, giving them the toolkit to eke out better performance. What that basically means is that game developers will be able to access these technologies to build more immersive gaming experiences across PCs and Xbox Series X.

All of that sounds very exciting, but if you don't really understand what DirectX is and why it matters, here's a high-level primer. DirectX is a set of graphics API that control everything from multimedia playback to how games run on your PC. Think of DirectX as the middleman that lets games access low-level hardware resources like video cards.

What's unique about DirectX 12 Ultimate is the fact that it's unified across PCs and the Xbox Series X. Microsoft notes that by the time the Xbox Series X rolls around, there will already be "many millions of DX12 Ultimate PC graphics cards" that offer the same feature-set. That significantly increases the addressable userbase, making it that much more of an incentive for developers to utilize the latest features. If you're using a video card that already has ray tracing, chances are you'll see it being rebranded to a DirectX 12 Ultimate GPU.

Essentially, if you're buying one of the best graphics cards that comes with DirectX 12 Ultimate — or the Xbox Series X — you'll be able to play games that leverage the latest graphics technologies, leading to life-like visuals and smoother gameplay. But if you're using a video card without ray tracing and aren't interested in Microsoft's next-gen console, you'll be able to play the latest titles — DirectX 12 Ultimate games will run just fine on older versions of DirectX. Sure, all the latest features that are baked in may not work, but the gameplay itself will be unaffected.

If you're interested in knowing more about what DirectX 12 Ultimate brings to the table, read on.

DirectX Raytracing 1.1

DirectX Raytracing 1.1 is an incremental update over version 1.0, but it introduces a few new capabilities. Devs will now be able to invoke shaders directly from the GPU without a round-trip to the CPU, and Microsoft notes that this will come in handy for shader-based culling, sorting, classification, and refinement.

DXR 1.1 makes it easier for game engines to load ray tracing shaders on-demand — when a player moves around a world and new objects are rendered. Then there's inline raytracing, which is more efficient than dynamic shader-based ray tracing in a few scenarios. Microsoft notes that it eliminates the overhead of shader-based ray tracing for simple tasks like calculating shadows.

NVIDIA was the first to roll out hardware-level ray tracing on its GeForce RTX 20 series video cards, and AMD is set to offer dedicated ray tracing cores in its upcoming Radeon lineup. Microsoft rolled out the first version of DirectX Raytracing back in 2018, but barring a few titles, ray tracing hasn't really taken off with devs. That's set to change over the coming months now that the technology is natively integrated into PCs as well as Microsoft's upcoming console.

Finally, Microsoft says that games that already utilize ray tracing will be the first to pick up DirectX 12 Ultimate features.

Variable Rate Shading

Variable rate shading is a nifty feature that lets game developers adjust a game's shading rate in real-time. The technique lets a GPU utilize its power where it matters most. For instance, if there's a complex scene with several objects, the GPU is able to render the in-focus objects at higher fidelity, and objects in the background at a lower level of detail.

This is a win-win situation because it takes less toll on the GPU, leading to a noticeable increase in frame rates. Microsoft baked variable rate shading into DirectX 12 last year, and it's unchanged in DirectX 12 Ultimate.

Mesh Shaders

In a nutshell, mesh shaders give developers the ability to build more immersive worlds by bringing the full power of the GPU compute to the geometry pipeline. Essentially, mesh shaders turn the geometry pipeline to behave more like compute shaders, giving devs fine-tuned control:

Sampler Feedback

Sampler Feedback reduces load times, increases visual quality, and reduces jitter. It does so by giving developers the option to load textures only when needed. The feature works in conjunction with DirectX 12's Direct3D API's tiled resource feature to render larger and more detailed textures while using less video memory.

DirectX 12 Ultimate is coming to video cards first

With DirectX 12 Ultimate now official, we're going to see announcements from NVIDIA — and possibly AMD — about video cards that leverage all the new features on offer. Microsoft says that GPUs that are already available in the market that leverage ray tracing and variable rate shading can be branded as a DirectX 12 Ultimate GPU. So if you bought a video card in the RTX 20 series, you'll be able to take advantage of all the new features in DirectX 12 Ultimate.

Most of the features in DirectX 12 Ultimate are already available right now, and by bringing it under a unified suite, Microsoft is making it easier for game developers to start utilizing the latest tech. The big deal here is that DirectX 12 Ultimate works the same way across PCs and the Xbox Series X, and that means next-gen titles will have the same great visuals on both ecosystems. And that's a fantastic move.

Xbox Series X/S

Main

• Xbox Series X: Everything we know
• Best games coming to Xbox Series X/S
• List of Xbox Series X specs
• What is the Xbox Series X release date?
• How much does Xbox Series X cost?
• Why you can't preorder Xbox Series X yet
• Best Xbox Series X Headsets

Even as Windows 7 is gearing up to lose official support from Microsoft in January, the company is adding a new feature to lend a hand to game developers. In a post on the DirectX blog this week, Microsoft revealed that it is bringing DirectX 12 to Windows 7, with initial support for World of Warcraft (via The Verge).

World of Warcraft added support for DirectX 12 in 2018, and it's resulted in a "substantial framerate improvement" for players, according to Microsoft. The improvements were large enough for Blizzard, the developer behind World of Warcraft, to reach out to Microsoft requesting support for DirectX 12 to be added for its players on Windows 7. From Microsoft:

As of World of Warcraft's latest patch, version 8.1.5, Windows 7 users can now run the game using DirectX 12. Of course, Microsoft points out that Windows 10 packs more improvements to make DirectX 12 run games even better, encouraging gamers to upgrade. "Windows 10 has critical OS improvements which make modern low-level graphics APIs (including DirectX 12) run more efficiently," the company says.

For right now, World of Warcraft is the only game with support for DirectX 12 on Windows 7. However, Microsoft says it is "working with a few other game developers to port their D3D12 games to Windows 7." As a result, we should see more announcements in the coming months surrounding DirectX 12 on Windows 7.

As this year's Game Developers Conference (GDC) goes into full swing, Microsoft has detailed some of the tools it is working on to help developers build better games. A big part of that revolves around the Microsoft's efforts with machine learning and how it envisions WindowsML, introduced last week, can play a role in game development. However, Microsoft also gave developers a taste of a new DirectX Raytracing, a new feature of the DirectX API that stands to make games look more realistic.

In terms of machine learning, Microsoft's overview is an aspirational look at how developers will be able to leverage deep neural networks (DNN) to enhance their games. One idea Microsoft envisions for games is using machine learning to naturally adapt to a game to a player's gaming style. For example, a DNN could be used to understand your in-game habits and change things on the fly. "If you're someone who likes to find treasures in game but don't care to engage in combat, DNNs could prioritize and amplify those activities while reducing the amount or difficulty of battles," Microsoft says. "When games can learn and transform along with the players, there is an opportunity to maximize fun and make games better reflect their players."

Outside of gameplay, Microsoft is eyeing machine learning as a tool for improving the development process. Neural networks, the company says, can be leveraged to perform some of the more arduous parts of creating assets and graphics, leaving artists and developers free to focus other areas. This is already in use to some extent: Microsoft points out that the facial animation process that Remedy used with Quantum Break was trained to move characters' faces based on audio input alone. "They reported that this tooling generated facial movement that was 80% of the way done, giving artists time to focus on perfecting the last 20% of facial animation," Microsoft says. "The time and money that studios could save with more tools like these could get passed down to gamers in the form of earlier release dates, more beautiful games, or more content to play."

Visuals can even benefit from machine learning, the company argues. For example, aliasing around objects in games can be smoothed out by tapping into machine learning models to determine the best color for each pixel. This results in an image that is smoother and less jagged when viewed up close. You can see an example of this in the image below, which compares ML Super Sampling (left) to bilinear upsampling (right)

Finally, Microsoft used GDC 2018 to show off a new part of the DirectX API: DirectX Raytracing (DXR). Developers will be able to take advantage of DXR in DirectX 12 to bring real-time raytracing to their games, enhancing some aspects of visual quality today while paving the way for a full replacement of rasterization in the future. From Microsoft:

For now, Microsoft says it expects DXR will be used to supplement some rendering techniques, such as space reflections or global illumination. However, DXR could eventually replace rasterization as the standard technique for rendering 3D scenes.

For the average gamer, all of this simply means better-looking games are coming down the pike. For developers, however, you can check out the full technical details at the DirectX blog for more.

Futuremark has updated its popular 3DMark benchmarking tool with Time Spy, a new benchmark demo made specifically for Windows 10 gaming PCs to test out their DirectX 12 graphics capabilities.

Futuremark states:

Time Spy is a free update for all Windows versions of 3DMark, but obviously will only work if your PC has Windows 10 installed. That includes the free 3DMark Basic Edition and the 3DMark Steam demo. People who purchased the 3DMark Advanced Edition before July 14 can get some extra options for the price of $9.99, such as unlocking custom settings for Time Spy, accessing the Time Spy Stress Test and use the option to skip the Time Spy demo. People who have yet to buy the 3DMark Advanced Edition can also get it for $9.99 via Steam from now until July 23, after which the price will go up to $29.99.

See at Steam

Futuremark has released the first trailer for Time Spy, the upcoming DirectX 12 PC benchmark test for Windows 10 that will be included in a future update of 3DMark.

Futuremark states:

The Time Spy update for 3DMark will be released sometime in the near future. In the meantime, you can purchase the Advanced Edition of 3DMark on Steam for just $4.99 during the Steam Summer Sale.

See on Steam

Epic Games had previously announced that its Unreal Engine 4 tools would support Microsoft's DirectX 12 API in Windows 10. The developer has released an updated version of Unreal Engine 4 that allows anyone to make DirectX 12-based games with the tools.

The new Unreal Engine 4.9 still uses DirectX 12 as an "experimental" feature. Epic Games says:

Microsoft and Epic previously offered DirectX 12 support for Unreal Engine 4 to a limited number of developers, but this launch will expand that access to all game creators. Unreal Engine 4 is free to download and use to make commercial games, with Epic taking a 5% royalty on revenues. Microsoft's upcoming free-to-play game Fable Legends for Windows 10 and the Xbox One will use both Unreal Engine 4 and DirectX 12.

Source: Unreal Engine

Upcoming strategy title "Ashes of Singularity" released benchmarking software a few days ago, marking the start of a global transition to DX12.

DirectX is a programming interface (API) that allows developers to tap into a device's hardware for producing complex 3D graphics. DX12 is the latest version and promises to bring more efficient CPU utilization, reduced driver overheads, and various other benefits. Lead developer Max McMullen said one of DX12's goals was to bring "console-level efficiency" to PCs. Console hardware is focussed entirely on games, where PCs are often doing other tasks even while running games.

In this context, DX12 hopes to bring significant gains to PC games across the board. However, Ashes of Singularity's benchmark is proving controversial for Nvidia's high-end cards, which so far aren't seeing the benefits.

This graph shows DX12's performance (blue) against the older DX11's performance (green) using Nvidia's GTX 980 and AMD's R 390X.

PC Perspective has put various hardware configurations to the test against the new benchmarking software.

Nvidia's GTX 980 is one of the company's most powerful GPUs, yet the benchmarking software seems to show that DX12 hinders performance slightly. AMD's R9 390X, however, shows massive gains, often upwards of 80% - pushing it ahead of Nvidia's GTX 980. The disparity is problematic for Nvidia, as the R9 390X is usually cheaper than the GTX 980.

Nvidia dismissed Ashes of Singularity's benchmark, tersely describing it as inaccurate:

Ashes of Singularity's developer Oxide defended the code in a detailed blog post:

At least in part, this data could show that AMD has historically poor DirectX performance when compared to Nvidia. However, Intel's integrated GPUs have seen similar gains. Check out this video below from Intel on the benefits of the tech for lower-end GPU setups, such as the Surface Pro 3:

DX12 is proving a controversial topic for various reasons, particularly if the disparity between Nvidia and AMD continues. DX12 is also heading to Xbox One, although it remains largely speculative if it'll hold any significant gains as consoles are already very optimized.

Are you a DirectX buff? How do you feel about the data? Hit the comments!

Source: PC Perspective

In February, Stardock announced Start10, a Start menu replacement for Windows 10, after it had a massive success with its similar Start8 program for Windows 8 and 8.1. Even though Microsoft decided to add a version of the Start menu back into its latest OS, Stardock's Start10 offers users some other options, including a version that replicates the Start menu found in Windows 7 and more.

Now that Windows 10 has officially launched, we decided to go back and chat with Stardock CEO Brad Wardell to see how Start10 is doing in the marketplace. While the $4.99 program is still in beta (it will officially launch on August 12) Wardell tells us that downloads of Start10 are already generating about 2/3rds of the numbers that Start8 did in its comparative release time frame. We also chat with him about Ashes of the Singularity, an upcoming RTS game that Stardock is publishing and will be the first PC game released to support Microsoft's DirectX 12 graphics API, which launched alongside Windows 10.

First, what's the response been like to Start10 since the first public beta release in February?

Before Windows 10 was actually released, people were very skeptical about it. They had heard that Windows 10 was going to have a start menu so what was the point of Start10? Then people started actually using Windows 10, and they realized that while it's better than nothing, for people doing a lot of work on Windows, it's still flawed.

How does Start10 improve on the Windows 10 Start menu?

What we've tried to do is start from Windows 7 and then think how it would have natively evolved for Windows 10. So for examples: We put the search bar back in the start menu. I don't want to be looking at the search bar on the taskbar all the time. We also maintain the Folder metaphor in all programs. So if I'm looking for MS Office, I can open up the office folder, not sift through all the programs. While many people usually type in what they want to look for, there are plenty of programs on our computers that are hard to remember. I also think many people will find the live tiles area off putting. It feels like a big advertising area for OEMs rather than something aimed at users. Even when I first install Windows 10, I have a ton of crap in there. Can you imagine how people would have felt about Windows 7 if the Start menu started with a bunch of junk pinned to it?

Tutorial: How to remove the Live Tiles section in Windows 10 Start

Based on early sales and reactions, will there be a lot of demand for Start10?

Yes. So far sales are almost as high as Start8 was when Windows 8 first came out.

Can you be more specific?

It's about 2/3 what Start8 was at this stage. It's been somewhere between 15,000 to 20,000 a day so far, in terms of downloads. Start8 was doing closer to 20,000 to 25,000 per day at this point

Why do you think this has happened?

If I had to guess: Live tiles. People hate them. If we weren't so cheap, it wouldn't be a big deal. For $5 you can make the pain go away. That's less than a Starbucks coffee.

Does Stardock have plans for any more Windows 10 software products?

We have several in development. We have a few that makes the desktop more touch friendly than it currently is. We have another one that uses the virtual desktops in Windows 10 to allow users to switch easily between true full-screen apps.

Let's talk about Stardock's games, specifically Ashes of the Singularity. Your company is publishing the sci-fi real-time strategy game from developer Oxide Games. Stardock also helped to fund the developer itself. Ashes of the Singularity will be the first PC game to support directly DirectX 12. How did that come about?

We identified some years ago that it would require both a new type of 3D engine and a new graphics API if we wanted to make a truly next generation RTS that could handle thousands of units. We wanted to be able to make strategy games that didn't involve just battles in real time but entire wars across huge areas. So we helped found Oxide Games to build that engine and began working with AMD, NVIDIA, and Microsoft to see how a next-generation API might come about.. AMD created Mantle, which demonstrated just how much performance could be gained if the graphics stack were able to utilize fully all the CPU cores. Microsoft followed up with DirectX 12. And thus we have Ashes, a game that does run well on DirectX 11 but can support much greater fidelity on DirectX 12.

How much input did you and Oxide Games have in how DirectX 12 was developed?

That's really hard to say. We worked heavily with AMD and Microsoft and just told them the kinds of things that would be really helpful. We tried to make the case that there's a whole new level of visual fidelity that current hardware was capable of. I usually used the Lord of the Rings movie example: Those huge battles could be done in real-time on a modern PC if we could just make full use of the hardware that people already have.

When do you believe we will see games taking full advantage of DirectX 12 in combination with hardware?

I suspect Ashes will be the first game that does it. And that's due out in less than a year. Others will show up I suspect in the next year or so. Some of the features are easier to update to than others. I think you'll see a lot of games get updates to support DirectX 12.

We would like to thank Brad for answering our questions, Stardock's Start10 program is currently on sale in beta for $4.99. Ashes of the Singularity is already available in alpha for people who pre-order the game via its Founder's Program for $49.99, and will be available in early Beta form later in August.

Microsoft's launch of Windows 10 means that DirectX 12, the next generation of its 3D graphics APIs for PC games, is also officially available. However, graphics chip maker NVIDIA has revealed that the drivers for its older Fermi-based GPUs still do not support DirectX 12.

Previously NVIDIA said that its Fermi (400 and 500 series), Kepler (600 and 700 series) and the new Maxwell (750 and 900 series) GPUs would all support DirectX 12. However, an updated support document confirms that the older Fermi series are still using the WDDM 1.3 drivers, rather than the new WDDM 2.0 drivers needed to support DirectX 12. The article said that support will be offered "at a later date" for Fermi GPUs

In the meantime, NVIDIA, AMD and Intel have all released new drivers for their GPUs that currently support Windows 10 and DirectX 12. The NVIDIA updates are for the GeForce 353.62 WHQL drivers, while AMD has released its Catalyst 15.7.1 drivers that support DirectX 12 in its Radeon HD 7000 or newer GPUs. Intel's 15.40.4.64.4256 driver version adds DirectX 12 support for its Iris, Iris Pro and HD Graphics integrated GPUs found in its fourth and fifth generation Core processors.

The first game that will support DirectX 12 is the sci-fi RTS game Ashes of the Singularity from developer Oxide Games and publisher Stardock. The game is already available in a very early alpha version for people who pre-order it. It will come with a DirectX 12 benchmark as well. More DirectX 12 games, including Fable Legends, will be released later in 2015.

Source: NVIDIA; Via: AnandTech

PC gamers who want to get on the ground floor and play the first DirectX 12-supported game on Windows 10 will be able to do that very thing next week. That's when developer Oxide Games and publisher Stardock will release a very early alpha version of its upcoming sci-fi real-time strategy game Ashes of the Singularity for people who buy the game via its Founders program.

Stardock CEO Brad Wardell made the announcement of the game's alpha launch on his personal blog site, stating:

Because it will be such an early release, players can expect to run into lots of bugs and issues while playing the alpha version. It will also require some high-end hardware as Stardock says a PC will need at least 8GB of RAM, a video card that supports DirectX 11 or 12 with 2GB of onboard RAM and a display with a resolution of 1920x1080. Also, the game will require a 64-bit version of Windows. Wardell has stated in previous interviews that the DirectX 12 version of the game will have a number of improvements compared to the DirectX 11 version, including better lighting effects and AI for its units.

If that sounds like your kind of game, and you don't mind testing a very early build right now, you can purchase Ashes of the Singularity for $44.99 as part of its early Founders Program. There's also a $99.99 version which will offer users access to all of the game's post-release expansion packs and DLC content. There's no release date yet for the final version of the game.

Source: Little Tiny Frogs, Ashes of the Singularity

NVIDIA is preparing for the launch of Windows 10 months before it reaches its RTM stage by releasing the first WHQL-certified graphics drivers for the operating system.

WHQL stands for Windows Hardware Qualification Lab, which is run by Microsoft. In a blog post, NVIDIA says:

You can download the desktop versions of the 352.84 drivers for 32-bit and 64-bit PCs . They will work with NVIDIA 600, 700 and 900 series of GeForce graphics chips. The drivers are also available for mobile chips, again with 32-bit and 64-bit versions. They will work with the company's 600M, 700M, 800M and 900M GeForce graphics chip families

Source: NVIDIA

Microsoft showed off a new DirectX 12 graphics demos today during Build 2015 that showed how the new graphics API that's included in Windows 10 could be used to increase frame rates in games. Another demo showed how it can be used by a graphics engine to make a human look like she is crying realistically.

The demo showed a boost in game frame rates used Epic Games' Unreal Engine 4 with a new and experimental feature called heterogeneous multiadapter, which allows a PC running the engine with DirectX 12 to split the rendering workload between an NVIDIA graphics card and Intel's integrated graphics chip.

Microsoft says:

You can check out the brief video demo on the Channel 9 website (note: our app does not allow for the embedded video to be shown).

Additionally, NVIDIA and game publisher Square Enix teamed up during today's Build 2015 keynote address to see how DirectX 12 is used in a game graphics engine demo called "WITCH CHAPTER 0 [cry]". The in-engine visuals show a woman crying with some amazing detail. NVIDIA stated:

Source: Channel 9, NVIDIA

Futuremark has updated the Advanced Edition and Professional Edition versions of its 3DMark benchmarking software that adds an API Overhead feature test that supports DirectX 12 in the latest 10041 build of the Windows 10 Technical Preview.

The API Overhead feature test is the same one Microsoft used at its January Windows 10 press event to show off the improvements in its DirectX 12 game graphics API compared to the current DirectX 11. It's now being released for the first time, and is also the first public application ever that uses DirectX 12. It also supports DirectX 11 and AMD's Mantle API.

Futuremark reveals just what the API Overhead feature test is supposed to benchmark:

Futuremark adds that this new test is not a GPU-based benchmark and should not be used to compare different graphics cards running on DirectX 12. The company is working on a GPU-based DirectX 12 benchmarking program that will be released sometime after the official launch of Windows 10.

Besides the need for build 10041, Windows 10 preview users will also need to have at least 4GB of RAM in their PC to run the benchmark, along with "DirectX feature level 11_0 compatible hardware with at least at least 1 GB of graphics memory." Be aware that the test has been placed in the Advanced version of 3DMark, which costs $24.95, and the Professional version, which cost $995. It is not included in the free version of 3DMark.

Source: Microsoft, Futuremark

Microsoft announced that the new version of Unreal Tournament, the multiplayer first person shooter from Epic Games, will use DirectX 12, the next version of Microsoft's graphics API. DirectX 12 will be supported by Windows 10 and will officially launch alongside the OS.

Epic Games announced in 2014 their plans to release a new free-to-play version of Unreal Tournament using Unreal Engine 4. The general public can go ahead and download a pre-alpha version of the game on the official Unreal Tournament website, which just got updated this with a new map and some other new content.

Epic Games had already announced that Unreal Engine 4 would support DirectX 12 so it's not exactly a shock to hear this news. However, we are looking forward to seeing what kinds of graphical improvements can be put in the game with this support.

Source: Xbox Wire, Unreal Tournament

A new rumor about DirectX 12, the upcoming graphics API from Microsoft that will be include with the launch of Windows 10, suggests that it will allow graphics cards from both NVIDIA and AMD to be used in one PC gaming rig.

According to what unnamed sources told Tom's Hardware, DirectX 12 will have a feature called Explicit Asynchronous Multi-GPU, which will allow for multiple GPUs to be combined for use in a game, such as Fable Legends or an application. What does this mean? It states:

The same article also claims that DirectX 12 will let PC gamers install an NVIDIA GeForce graphics card inside their rig alongside an AMD Radeon card. It says:

Microsoft should reveal more about DirectX 12 and what it can do for PC gaming next week at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Windows Central will be attending the event to give you first hand reports on Microsoft's announcements. For now, have a look at our collection of the best graphics cards on the market today.

Source: Tom's Hardware

Benchmark testing software company Futuremark has revealed it will add a test to its 3DMark product that will demo the graphical improvements in DirectX 12, which will ship as part of Windows 10.

The new API Overhead feature test will be the same demo that Microsoft used to show off the difference between DirectX 11 and DirectX 12 as part of its Windows 10 gaming presentation earlier this week. Futuremark states:

There's no word on exactly when the new test will be added to 3DMark. As we have previously reported, DirectX 12 will be an exclusive for Windows 10 and will not be made available for Windows 7 and 8.1 users. More information about DirectX 12 is expected to be revealed in March as part of the annual Game Developers Conference.

Source: Futuremark

A new report from Microsoft's Windows 10 press event today confirms that the upcoming DirectX 12 graphics API will only be for Windows 10 users. In other words, Windows 7 and 8 PC owners will have to take advantage of Microsoft's offer of a free upgrade to Windows 10 for one year to get the benefits of DirectX 12.

That's not all. According to Rock Paper Shotgun's report, Windows 10 PC owners will also have to get new graphics cards, currently unreleased, inside their rig in order to gain all of the features that will be included in DirectX 12, although a number of current graphics cards will still be able to use some of its improvements.

The Xbox One game streaming feature that was demoed today will also only work with game controllers on the PC side. In other words, gamers with just a keyboard and mouse won't be able to play games streamed from Microsoft's console. Finally, we can expect to see more Xbox One games that will be also support Windows 10 besides Fable Legends, which was also demoed today. Let's hope one of them is Halo 5: Guardians.

Source: Rock Paper Shotgun

AMD has now issued an official statement on comments made earlier this month by its Chief Gaming Scientist Richard Huddy, saying that he was "speculating" when he stated that Windows 7 will not support Microsoft's upcoming DirectX 12 graphics API.

Huddy made those comments during a presentation at the PDXLAN gaming event. He stated at the time, "One thing that's not going to happen to it is DX12. Yup, DX12 is not coming to Windows 7." Now AMD has sent GameSpot the following statement:

Microsoft has confirmed that DirectX 12 will be released alongside Windows 10 sometime in 2015. While AMD may indeed be correct that Huddy was speculating, Microsoft may still decide not to support Windows 7 with regards to DirectX 12. Do you believe Microsoft should bypass Windows 7 for their next graphics API?

Source: GameSpot

It's not exactly a shock, but an AMD rep recently stated that DirectX 12, the next version of Microsoft's graphics API for Windows, won't be made available for Windows 7. Microsoft has already announced that DirectX 12 will launch alongside Windows 10 sometime in 2015.

The news came from AMD's Chief Gaming Scientist Richard Huddy at a presentation during the recent PDXLAN gaming event. As he stated, "One thing that's not going to happen to it is DX12. Yup, DX12 is not coming to Windows 7." This isn't surprising, since Windows 7 mainstream support is scheduled to end in January 2015, which means that new features won't be added to the OS after that date (it will continue to receive security and bug updates for several more years).

Microsoft has so far only confirmed that DirectX 12 will be added as part of Windows 10 out of the box and it's also due for Windows 8 and 8.1 as well. DirectX 12 will also be made available as a software update for Xbox One game developers. Should Microsoft go ahead and add DirectX 12 for Windows 7 as well?

Source: PC Gamer

Microsoft's DirectX 12 API for 3D graphics in games and other applications was first announced in March, but since then the company has been pretty quiet about its status. That changed this week as Microsoft and Intel teamed up to show that games that will use DirectX 12 will maintain high frame rates while also cutting the power consumption of a PC's CPU.

As part of the annual SIGGRAPH 2014 computer graphic conference, Microsoft and Intel showed a DirectX 12 demo running on a Surface Pro 3 tablet with a Intel HD4400 graphics chip. The demo itself was of an fictional asteroid field with 50,000 unique space rocks. The demo could be switched from using the current DirectX 11 to DirectX 12. Using DirectX 12 allowed the asteroid demo to keep the same framerate as it did under DirectX 11, but it cut the Surface Pro 3's CPU power consumption by 50 percent.

The demo could also be changed to show that framerates under DirectX 12 could be increased by over 50 percent compared to using DirectX 11 without the CPU using any extra power. Microsoft says:

Intel plans to release the asteroids demo when DirectX 12 is officially made available to the public. That won't likely happen until the company launches Threshold, the next version of Windows that is expected to officially be released sometime in the spring of 2015. What do you think of this latest DirectX 12 demo?

Source: Microsoft, Intel

Earlier this month Microsoft teased DirectX 12. The company said they’d have info to share about the next version of DirectX at this week’s GDC gaming conference. The Microsoft press conference just took place this morning. The DirectX team announced and shared a ton of info about DirectX 12. Read on if you’re ready for gaming to get even more enjoyable on your console, PC and phone.

DirectX is a collection of various APIs that work to make multimedia content, like games, better. There are various components to those APIs like Direct3D for graphics. 

Direct3D is the graphics API that Microsoft has worked on for 20 years as part of DirectX. Microsoft considers Direct3D to be one of the more critical pieces of a game engine. Which is why they’ve redesigned it to be faster and more efficient. They also stress that high-end PCs won’t be the only place you see these improvements. Everything from phones to tablets to laptops and to consoles will benefit from the work Microsoft has done with Direct3D 12.

Direct3D 12 will provide a lower level of hardware abstraction. This will allow multithread scaling and CPU utilization. The result of improving Direct3D is a reduced GPU overhead. You’re probably wondering if you need a new graphics card to take advantage of Direct3D 12. The answer is probably not. Microsoft has worked with hardware makers to ensure that DirectX 12 will run on most cards already in use. Bonus. Direct3D also promises 50% better CPU use and will make console games look and perform better on PC. Microsoft showed off Forza 5 running on PC hardware earlier today to demonstrate. 

With DirectX 12, developers will have great and more direct control over visuals in games. Your Xbox One will benefit, as will your Windows Phone and Windows 8 tablet.

Microsoft shared a slide about the benefits of DirectX 12 on mobile that our friends at IGN nabbed. The three core areas we’ll see improvements for games in the mobile environment are:

• Improved power efficiency
• Improved performance for mobile
• Scalability and portability

Kind of vague and PR’y, but if you zoom in on the image you can read the bulletin points for a better idea of what Microsoft means. For performance, the new DirectX 12 runtime will be efficient on multicore CPUs. The lower graphics API overhead will help maximize the performance on Snapdragon chipsets. You know the ones in every single Windows Phone.

In terms of scalability and portability. Look forward to a unified runtime that will help developers have an easier time porting PC and console content to mobile.

The DirectX 12 team will share more info and specifics about the changes at Microsoft’s Build conference in two weeks. We’ll be there to bring you all the news. In the meantime, if you’re a game developer you can request early access to the DirectX 12 preview program.

Source: MSDN Via: IGN

Microsoft has just teased DirectX 12. The next version of its collection of multimedia APIs that are popular in game programming. The announcement will take place at this month’s Game Developer Conference on March 20^th.

AMD, Intel, NVDIA and Qualcomm all appear on the teaser site. Obviously indicating their support and backing for the next version of DirectX from Microsoft. The announcement will take place at 10:00am PST on March 20, 2014. The presentation will be led by Anuj Gosalia, a development manager on Windows Graphics at Microsoft.

Here’s what the description of the talk teases on the GDC program page:

The last big update to DirectX occurred with DirectX 11, which was revealed in 2008 and shipped in late 2009 with the launch of Windows 7. We’ll be on hand at GDC to learn more about DirectX 12.

Source: DirectX 12, GDC

Sometimes technology is a collection of circuitry and silicon, sometimes though – it is a magical moment full of feelings and memories. The best experiences are born when technology transcends our knowledge and connects us with what we love. British science fiction writer and futurist, Arthur C. Clarke, once said:

Microsoft has been around for a long time and for those of us who live off of the technology they provide, some of the memories will never seep away.

In 2007, the company released a four minute commercial that has come to be known as “Your Digital Lifestyle”. The ad highlighted the then current hi-tech Microsoft products of the time and how one green shirted hipster used them to party the night away. The commercial is set to a cover of Ash’s Girl from Mars by Canadian group, Magneta Lane.

Buckle up, because we are going on a field trip to six years ago; along the way, we are going to jam with our green shirted friend and revisit some of our past Microsoft technology goodies. Windows Vista will probably be seen along the way, but there will be plenty of other experiences to combat that bad flavor.

Okay, roll the footage!

Windows Live Messenger

Our friend Mark, is at work and on his PC when he receives a Windows Live Messenger chat from his friend Pia (she must be the girl from Mars). Today we know that Microsoft’s messenger software is deprecated, but in 2007 – most of the world still used it. The service was first rolled out as “MSN Messenger” on July 22, 1999 until it was rebranded in 2005. Until its death, Microsoft reported that over 330 million active users a month used the service.

What happened next you ask? Microsoft purchased Skype and merged the two services. Finally in 2012, the service was killed in favor of fully utilizing Skype. This marks our first evolution of a Microsoft service: MSN Messenger -> Windows Live Messenger -> Skype with Windows Live Messenger -> Skype.

Windows Live Spaces

On we go! Pia sends Mark a link to Windows Live Spaces where he can check out party details and RSVP to the event. Windows Live Spaces was Microsoft’s poorly known social network and launched in 2004 as MSN Spaces. The goal of the site was to compete with other networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter (Sorry kids, grandpa didn’t have Google+ yet).

The problem with Microsoft’s social networking platform was that it didn’t offer any differentiating features from its already popular competitor, Facebook. The network was shut down in 2011 and has not been rebranded or reestablished.

Microsoft has launched a new, but unrelated, social networking site called Socl which you can read more about here.

Live Search Maps 3D

Mark decides he wants to go to get his groove on, so he heads to Live Search Maps 3D and spins around a view of the city before dashing off.  Why he spins the city around in circles, we can’t tell you. What we can tell you is what happed to 3D maps – they died. The service was an attempt to achiever near-photorealism of a city with high resolution models and aerial photography. Needless to say, the service was expensive and less than 68 cities were rendered before the program was dropped in 2010. According to Microsoft, they wanted to focus more on their new service – Bing Maps (more on that in a bit).

Windows Live Search

With his dashing lime green sweater now on, he pulls out his HTC phone and uses Live Search to look up traffic. Microsoft has been in the search game for a long time; they launched their first web search product in 1998 and crowned it, MSN Search. The newly launched service consisted of a search engine, index, and web crawler. It isn’t well known that from 1998 to 2005, Microsoft didn’t actually provide its own search engine results; the company partnered with Inktomi, Looksmart, and AltaVista until 2004 when Microsoft decided to go at it on their own.

In 2006, Microsoft rebranded MSN Search to Windows Live Search then changed their mind in 2007 and settled on Live Search. For the first time in history, Microsoft now powered their entire search engine internally. A problem still remained though, the company wanted to separate their search platform from their Windows division and “Live Search” just wasn’t doing the job. On June 3^rd, 2008 – Microsoft launched Bing! Another evolution pattern emerges: MSN Search -> Windows Live Search -> Live Search -> Bing!

Zune

Now that Mark is safely buckled in and ready to put the petal to the metal, he docks his gigantic first generation Zune into a car dock and rocks some tunes. You will have to give me a minute to mourn Zune as it was one of my favorite Microsoft babies… okay, I’m good now.

Zune was launched in November 2006 as a direct competitor to Apple’s line of iPod multimedia devices. Toshiba helped design and develop the first generation Zune units under code name “Argo”. The original Zune was criticized for its bulky size and it’s (uh) interesting color choice of brown. It also didn’t help Microsoft that on December 31^st 2008 at midnight, many first generation Zune 30 GB models froze due to an internal clock driver problem - luckily the devices resumed working 24 hours later.

The second and third generations of Zune were manufactured by Flextronics and gave birth to the squircle (not to be confused with the Pokémon, squirtal) shaped Zune Pad; this ingenious touch-sensitive pad allowed users to flick through content or click in on the edges to navigate the metro style interface.

On September 15, 2009 the last and final fourth generation Zune was released – the Zune HD. Oh, the excitement I remember experiencing when I ran to BestBuy and picked up my beautiful Zune HD with platinum backing. The design of the unit was superb, taking cues from industrial styling. And of course I could not forget the OLED touch screen which, at the time, made the iPhone look dull and washed out. Unfortunately, Apple’s iPod Touch had accumulated a massive store of applications while the Zune HD’s list of apps could be counted on two hands.

On March 15, 2011 Microsoft’s Zune brand was killed as it failed to capture any significant market share. Zune isn’t completely gone though, it has been rebranded. Production of any Zune players may have stopped, but the Zune Marketplace services were rebranded as Xbox Music and Xbox Video. The spirit of Zune continues to live on within Microsoft’s Windows Phone line of devices.

Games for Windows

Back to Mark - unfortunately his car has failed him and like any true hipster, he has a foldable bike in his trunk. He hops on his bike and pulls out Live Search once again to find directions to the closest pizzeria (although, if he lived in the area, you think he would know where a pizza place is located). After arriving at the pizza place, a semi-psychotic man jumping up and down playing a shoot-em-up video game, is behind the counter. Video games on a PC? This must be a Windows machine!

One of the major reasons Microsoft has been able to keep its following, is PC gaming. For the intense gamer, the PC platform provides a more open and moldable playing field. Using online stores like Steam, gamers can access a barrage of content available for download. Faster and more powerful hardware allows for graphics that can blow consoles out of the water. Quite frankly, if you haven’t played Crysis on Ultra settings with three surround-view monitors – you haven’t lived.

Games for PC were not united under a single brand name until 2007 when Microsoft launched “Games for Windows”. The new service and branding allowed Windows Vista games to access the Xbox LIVE service. With Games for Windows, players can cumulate achievements, chat with friends, and more. Some games, like Shadowrun, allowed for cross platform play between a Windows PC and Xbox 360 game console. The service was eventually renamed to “Games for Windows LIVE” with support on Windows 7 machines. Newer, Windows 8 machines, take advantage of their Xbox integration and run games under the title: “Xbox LIVE on Windows”.

Whatever you would like to call the service, it did not fair too well. The marketplace based around “Games for Windows” was eventually scrapped. Microsoft may be the number one PC platform for gaming, but in terms of a marketplace – they are ages late. Most PC gamers will love to tell you all about their devote loyalty to the Steam Marketplace; while they do that – let us, move on.

Xbox 360

The commercial snaps away to a scene of party goers (does that give away how often I am not invited to parties) gaming on an Xbox 360 game console.

Xbox was launched in North America on November 15^th, 2001 to compete against Sony’s PlayStation 2 and Nintendo’s GameCube. The idea was first pitched in 1998 by four engineers working on Microsoft’s DirectX team. The engineers built a prototype Windows based console from pats of a dissembled Dell laptop. The idea was pitched to executives and eventually approved.

The marketing team at Microsoft hated the Xbox name and made many suggestions in favor of a name change. In the end, consumer testing had revealed that Xbox was the preferred name for the console and it stuck. If you haven’t figured it out yet, the name Xbox, was derived from the word “DirectX” – the software platform the console was based on.

The unit launched with impressive features such as Xbox LIVE, an online based gaming service with buddy list integration, and a build in HDD, to store save game data without the need of a memory card. For those wondering, the internal specs were as follows: Intel Pentium 3 CPU, 8-10 GB HDD, 64 MB of RAM, and a 233 MHz NVidia GPU.

Microsoft’s first step into the console world was a success with the Xbox selling over 24 million consoles.

The Xbox 360, the console seen in the commercial, was the second game console developed by Microsoft and the successor to the original Xbox. The unit competed against the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii and sold 70 million consoles as of September 2012. The console was a hit and sold out upon release in all regions except Japan.

Stepping up from its predecessor, the Xbox 360 contained a PowerPC tri-core CPU, a 500 MHz ATi GPU, 512 MB of GDDR3 RAM, and 4GB – 250 GB of internal storage.

Later this year Microsoft will be launching the Xbox One, a new game console, with tight TV and Windows 8/RT integration. The unit will feature an eight-core AMD CPU, AMD DirectX graphics, and 8 GB of DDR3 RAM. If you missed the original announcement for the console, you can check out our Reveal Day Overview here.

Windows Mobile

While our “bestie” Mark is out, the girl from Mars sends him a picture text message via her Windows Mobile device - she needs beer and chips!

Windows Phone Central is all about Microsoft’s latest mobile operating system and we could spend a week giving you the lowdown on the evolution of Windows Mobile, so here is the very just of it.

Windows Mobile was launched on April 19^th, 2000 and originally called Pocket PC. In 2003, Microsoft decided to rename Pocket PC to Windows Mobile.

The software was released in four editions including: Windows Mobile for Pocket PC Premium, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC Professional, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, and Windows Mobile for Pocket PC Phone. If you think that naming scheme is confusing, just imagine how the average consumer felt.

Eventually, Microsoft narrowed down the operating system to three different iterations including: Windows Mobile Professional, Windows Mobile Standard, and Windows Mobile Classic. Professional was designed to run on smartphones with touchscreens, Standard was designed to run on mobile phones without touchscreens, and Classic was designed to run on PDAs or Pocket PCs (AKA: Anything without a mobile broadband connection).

In 2004, Windows Mobile’s market share was 11.3%; it increased to a maximum high of 42% in 2007 and then decreased down to 3% by 2011 – Blackberry and iPhone were becoming too strong of a force to deal with.

On November 8th 2010, Microsoft launched its successor to Windows Mobile – Windows Phone. Besides the massive changes to the front end of the OS and a complete recoding of the backend, Windows Phone was aimed at an entirely new market audience; the previous phone OS from Redmond was aimed at business users and enterprise, while Windows Phone is aimed at consumers.

Currently, Windows Phone has a growth rate of 133% per year, surpassing Android OS’ 79.5%. As of now, Nokia dominates the Windows Phone hardware market with an 83% share outside of the United States of America.

More Zune

Like any good guy chasing a girl, Mark follows the instructions Pia has sent him, and heads to a local convenience store to pick up the goods. While there, he notices the cashier has a Zune also and decides to squirt her.

No, get your mind out of the gutter you internet reader! Squirting a user was a feature on Zune in which you could easily share your music wirelessly with others. It was important to note that if the user did not have a Zune Pass they would only be able to share a sixty second clip.

After Mark squirts the woman behind the counter (seriously guys, stop thinking like that) he rushes out of the store and heads over to the party he has been so anxious to get to.

Windows Live Essentials

Know what is cooler than viewing pictures of a party? Viewing pictures of a party while you are still at that party. The girls decide to take a barrage of photos and (because nothing else fun is going on) organize and share them with Windows Live Photo Gallery.

Apple’s Macs have come preloaded with iLife, a suite of video and photo editing software, for years. Microsoft needed to badly cut in on the home multimedia action for their Windows platform. In 2006, the company released what they called “Windows Live Essentials” – a package that included: Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Photo Gallery, Windows Live Movie Maker, Windows Live Mail, Windows Live Writer, SkyDrive (formally Mesh), and Windows Live Family Safety Tools.

The software has proved to work well and it is in its fifth wave (or distribution). The software suite, had been renamed to Windows Essentials in its last release; this ensured that the brand name stayed in line with Microsoft’s corporate setup. Just as Live Search was renamed to Bing, Windows Live Essentials was renamed to Windows Essentials - dropping the “Live” branding.

Windows Vista

Mark finally arrives at the party with a collection of pizzas and starts dancing the night away. And as we all know, the perfect way to end a commercial is with Windows Vista – oh my. We have to talk about Windows Vista now, don’t we? Let’s do this, to spare you pain and to spare myself pain, I will make the Windows Vista discussion brief.

Microsoft’s redesigned operating system Windows Vista was released six years ago on January 30^th, 2007. The list of criticisms for this iteration of the Redmond OS can go so long that there is an entire Wikipedia page (and many angry webpages) devoted to it.

Here is the just of the worst Windows Vista features: To start, the operating system was incompatible with almost all Windows XP drivers because the code base was rewritten; this caused extreme hardware issues with new and old devices alike. It took manufacturers months to provide correct driver compatibility and even then – they didn’t work too well.

Windows Vista was also the introduction of User Account Control, a software mechanisms designed to keep users safe when installing content or running applications as administrator. The problem – the feature was over intrusive and constantly nagged at you to approve EVERYTHING.

Let’s conclude with the fact that Windows Vista was bloated and slow. The new aero interface taxed heavily on your graphics card and the system seemed to have no mercy unless you had the top of the line hardware.

Want to know a secret of mine? Windows Vista was so bad, that I ran out and purchased a MacBook Pro. That is right, I switched to Mac during the Windows Vista years and returned when Windows 7 was released.

The Road Ahead

I’ve had a ton of fun taking a semi-brief look back at Microsoft six years ago. The company has changed much since then and we are being shot forward into a future of crazy bright colors and live tiles. Technology is an industry that is moving faster than ever and it is almost impossible to properly predict. Will Xbox One be a hit or flop? Will consumers grow to love Windows 8 or not? We will have to wait and find out – this road trip is over.

If you are wondering what happened to our friend Mark at the end of the video, check it out for yourself.

Tell us, what is your favorite piece of Microsoft nostalgia? I personally, to this day, remain in love with the Zune line of devices. In fact – just last night I had a dream that I was running Spotify off of my old Zune HD…. Probably a sign that I need a vacation.

Chat soon fellow Microsofties!