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3 Reasons Why Windows 10 Is the Best Windows for Gaming

Posted: 29 Jul 2015 11:00 AM PDT

Peter Orullian is a senior product marketing manager at Microsoft. 

Windows 10 is the best Windows for gaming. Here's why:

  • First, Windows 10 makes the PC games and services you own even better.
  • Second, it makes great new games possible on Windows with technology like DirectX 12 and Xbox Live.
  • Third, it brings Xbox experiences to your Windows 10 PCs in ways that are meaningful to PC gamers.

Let's start with how Windows 10 makes your PC games and services better. Windows 10 maximizes the system resources games get to help them run efficiently. You'll appreciate this during those intense battles where every second counts. The Start menu is back and better than ever. And Windows is faster to start up and shut down.

The Start menu is back.
With Windows 10, the Start menu is back and better than ever.

Windows 10 comes with what's called the Game bar. This lets you record game clips or take screenshots from the PC games you already have, including games from Steam or other gaming services. Simply hit Windows + G, and the Game bar pops up.  Once you've recorded the clip, it's easy to post to YouTube or your favorite social network. And with more and more PC games supporting controllers, Windows 10 natively supports Xbox gaming accessories (including the upcoming Xbox Elite Wireless Controller.)

Now, let's talk about the games themselves.  First, let's talk about graphics performance.  DirectX 12 in Windows 10 unlocks the full potential of your PC's graphics hardware.  DirectX 12 will power new games that push the limits of graphics and realism – like Unreal Tournament from Epic and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided from Square Enix.  Microsoft Studios is also investing in DirectX 12 with the upcoming Fable Legends and Gears of War: Ultimate Edition.

Fable
Fable Legends is one of many upcoming Windows games that will benefit from Windows 10’s support for DirectX 12.

And that's not all. Many other great games are also coming to Windows 10, including Killer Instinct, Minecraft, and Sea of Thieves from Rare. And we've expanded the ID@Xbox program to Windows developers, with dozens of great new games like Cuphead, Super Dungeon Brothers, Pinball FX 2 and many more also coming to Windows 10.

Now, let's talk about Xbox. As a PC gamer, you're probably asking "Why does this matter to me?" We know that a lot of gamers play on both PC and Xbox, and we wanted to make it easy to get the best of both worlds.  Windows 10 comes with the new Xbox app built-in. The Xbox app puts you in touch with the largest gaming community across Windows 10 devices and Xbox One. You can voice and text chat from PC to PC and PC to console – even while playing your existing PC games.  New games like Gigantic and Fable Legends use the Xbox Live multiplayer service (which is completely free on PC) and let you play with or against players on Xbox One.

And Xbox Live cloud saves let you start a game on one device and pick up where you left off on another.

Last but certainly not least: If you have an Xbox One, we make it super simple for you to play your Xbox One games on your Windows 10 PC across your home network with game streaming.   So you can get the best of both worlds – the PC games you love and access to the console experience when (and if) you want it without leaving your PC.

We at Microsoft appreciate the partnership with NVIDIA and the ongoing support of the PC gaming community.

We hope you're as excited about Windows 10 as we are.

The post 3 Reasons Why Windows 10 Is the Best Windows for Gaming appeared first on The Official NVIDIA Blog.

Why Windows 10 and DirectX 12 Represent a Big Step Forward for Gaming

Posted: 29 Jul 2015 06:00 AM PDT

Windows 10 is here and, with it, DirectX 12.

This new graphics application programming interface, or API, represents a big step forward.

It fast tracks a new generation of games that will take advantage of DirectX 12, offering unprecedented, low-level access to hardware resources. So developers can tailor their games to GeForce GPU architectures.

DirectX 12 will enable new graphics effects that transform your gaming experience – techniques like Volume Tiled Resources, Conservative Raster, Raster Order Views, Tiled Resources, Typed UAV Access, Bindless Textures, and Asynchronous Compute, and more. While enormously sophisticated technology, together they will increase image quality and realism while offering increased performance.

We're demonstrating our commitment to DirectX 12 through our close collaboration with game developers. Together, we're refining our drivers to take full advantage of the features and functionality of this new graphics API. We're also helping game developers deploy their DirectX 12 titles. More than a hundred of them are already creating their next-gen titles using GeForce GPUs.


Video: Microsoft choose GeForce for their first DirectX 12 demonstration ever at GDC 2014.

There's nothing surprising there. GeForce GPUs have been used for a number of high profile DirectX 12 demos from Microsoft since the API was announced at GDC 2014. This marriage of the world's fastest GPU hardware with a high-quality graphics driver proved the perfect showcase for the new features of Windows 10 and DirectX 12.

Our first WHQL driver for Windows 10 dropped in mid-May, and we've released updates since then. We released our Game Ready driver for Windows 10 earlier this month, 353.62, well ahead of launch. You can get it now through Windows Update.

You won't be alone. Industry observers expect more than 350 million PCs will run Windows 10 within the first year. Thanks to GeForce GPUs and our Game Ready driver program, you can upgrade to Windows 10 with confidence. You'll enjoy the ultimate gaming experience today. And you'll be ready for the incredible titles coming tomorrow.


Video: Square Enix's DirectX 12 demo WITCH CHAPTER 0 [cry] dropped jaws at Build 2015. It was demoed on GeForce.

For more on the Windows 10 launch, visit GeForce.com.

The post Why Windows 10 and DirectX 12 Represent a Big Step Forward for Gaming appeared first on The Official NVIDIA Blog.