DirectX 11.1 For Windows 8 Only
When Windows Vista was released it got something that Windows XP didn’t have: DirectX 10. Part of the reason why XP didn’t get DirectX 10 was because of technical issues, but perhaps one of the biggest reasons was the fact that Microsoft just wanted people to upgrade to Vista. DirectX 11 was different: it was able to be ran on both Vista and 7, but then again, for many people they upgraded anyway since Vista failed on so many different levels, so there was no need to keep DirectX 11 away from Vista.
It looks like Microsoft is trying to get people to upgrade to Windows 8, however, by making the DirectX 11.1 Windows 8-only. It’s not a surprising move, honestly, given Microsoft’s past at this practice, but to me it is a bit disappointing. After all, I don’t feel like spending 100 or so bucks on an OS that I’m not even sure I really want.
Luckily, however, the move from DirectX 11 to 11.1 isn’t quite like the move from DirectX 8 to 9, or 9 to 10. The only real addition to 11.1 is native stereoscopic 3D support, something that a vast majority of gamers don’t use. So, us Windows 7 fans should be good for awhile longer, if I had to guess.
