Microsoft forces fragmentation - DirectX 11.1 exclusive to W8

[Mikeb85]

Now this really surprises me. Apparently the newest DirectX will be W8 only. With Valve and other game developers ripping on W8, I really didn't think MS would do something like this, not for this release anyway. DirectX 11 of course supports W7 and Vista.

Source: http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/12/3...11-1-windows-8

In other news, apparently Surface sales are 'modest' according to MS, which likely means 'bad'...

Microsoft are really taking the wrong route here. They are looking at Apple, thinking that's the business model to follow, without realizing that the only reason they still maintain desktop dominance is because their model isn't like Apple's...

Anyhow, while I'm not sure if this will increase Linux adoption, more fragmentation definitely increases multi-platform support, so things like Web Apps, JVM, will see higher adoption and importance... (which will still make our lives easier)

Also, I was pretty bullish on W8, I think it's a good system. But I think MS is making very bad business decisions.

[JDShu]

I heard that Microsoft has years of technical debt due to their emphasis on backward compatibility. While it offered large advantages to windows application developers, it was probably unsustainable in the long run.

[CharlesA]

I doubt they will have games exclusively using DX 11.1 - we still have games that can run on DX11 and DX9, for backward compatibility with WinXP...

[pqwoerituytrueiwoq]

if enough gamers decide they don't like windows 8, the devs will not make directx 11.1 games so windows 7 users will buy there games, obviously windows 8 users can play directx 11 games, besides what can 11.1 do that 11 can't

[Merk42]

This is nothing new.
DirectX 10 was Vista exclusive
DirectX 8.1 was Windows XP exclusive

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx#Releases

[exploder]

Merk42 has summed things up well. Microsoft has used this same tactic in the past to try and convince users to upgrade to their latest release. I have always called it planned obsolescence.

[bmeakings]

There are also other programs like IE and WMP that were limited to certain versions of Windows, as well as games like Age of Empires III and Halo 2 (both produced by MS, funny enough). I wonder if the (rumoured) PC version of Halo 4 will be Windows 8 exclusive. Who cares.

I won't accept the excuse that it's just business, it'll always be a sleazy underhanded tactic in my book. Sure, it's their OS, they're not a charity, free market, blah blah. But right now it's just making me feel smugly superior for using their products as little as possible. If that's their goal then congratulations are in order. Thanks Microsoft!

In the past I would have been annoyed, but this time I barely raised an eyebrow, not because I no longer use Windows as my main OS - I still boot into my Win7 partition to play games - but because many, if not most games today still use DirectX 9 and support XP, usually without sacrificing visual fidelity. Given Windows 8's lukewarm reception I doubt developers will be tripping over themselves embracing it and ditching what many consider the best Windows release.

[BrokenKingpin]

Meh... I am surprised they have been backwards compatible for this long. At some point it makes sense to start fresh and not have to worry about that. Sure, it may just be because they want people to migrate to the new OS, which is understandable from a business prospective. They have a new direction for the Windows platform and they want people to move to it... if you don't like it, don't use it (buy an PS3 or something lol).

[BigCityCat]

Meh... I am surprised they have been backwards compatible for this long. At some point it makes sense to start fresh and not have to worry about that. Sure, it may just be because they want people to migrate to the new OS, which is understandable from a business prospective. They have a new direction for the Windows platform and they want people to move to it... if you don't like it, don't use it (buy an PS3 or something lol).

This is how I feel about it. I'm not disturbed by this news.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpL2sWLwEtU

[KiwiNZ]

Some DirectX 11.1 features will be made available to Windows 7