Windows 7: A great gaming platform?

With the release of Windows 7 in October, PC gamers will finally have another platform on which to play their favorite games. Those who didn't quite enjoy Windows Vista as a game platform or have stuck with Windows XP are probably looking forward to the opportunity to buy some new hardware, install Windows 7, and get the most out of their favorite games.

(Credit: Microsoft)

But is Windows 7 a promising gaming platform? Now that its development is over, it's time to ask questions. What kind of gaming experience will it offer? Does it have features that will help it beat out Windows Vista or Windows XP in the game space?

Let's take a look:

DirectX 11
DirectX 11, which is set to run on both Windows 7 and Windows Vista, is highly anticipated. A recent blog post on Advanced Micro Devices' official blog asserts that DirectX 11, "in combination with new graphics hardware, and in some cases Windows 7, brings significant changes to the computing experience, changes that mean upcoming games and other applications are about to get a lot better."

AMD believes that with the help of "a beast called the tessellator," game developers will be able to create even better-looking games. The company contends that titles will be "smoother, less blocky, and more organic-looking."

Thanks to better support for multithreading and GPGPU compatibility, game developers should be able to get more out of their games on Windows 7 than any previous version of the operating system.

AMD contends that games will have "higher frame rates" and "more realistic characters." It also believes that game development costs might be kept down, thanks to a simplified, more efficient Windows 7.

Performance
In a recent posting on the Windows Partner blog, Intel's Brandon LeBlanc wrote that Windows 7 will be a far more efficient platform than its predecessor. According to LeBlanc, Microsoft worked with Intel to implement "a new feature called SMT parking, which provided additional support for the Windows 7 scheduler for Intel Hyper-Threading Technology, enabling better performance on hyperthreaded, multicore Intel processors."

Nvidia product manager Chris Daniel wrote on the Windows Team blog last week that Windows 7 is "the first Windows operating system to treat the graphics-processing unit as a real peer to the CPU." He went on to say that Windows 7 is doing a fine job of making its platform more appealing to gamers.

"Microsoft is really opening up the immense parallel-computing horsepower of the GPU natively right in the operating system," he wrote.

Those are just a couple examples, but most companies, albeit with a vested interest in seeing Windows 7 succeed, are saying the platform is more powerful than its predecessors. Regardless of the motives, that can only be good for gamers.

Games Explorer
Perhaps Games Explorer won't top the list of the features that will help make Windows 7 a great gaming platform, but it could help.

Although that feature originally launched with Windows Vista, Microsoft has promised that the Windows 7 version of Games Explorer will make gamers much happier with what they find.

Once they add titles to their PCs, gamers will be able to update those games from the Games Explorer pane, rather than open up each title and download updates in the software. If they want in-game statistics, they can have that too.

Compatibility
Compatibility is always a major concern for gamers. Will the games they enjoy work on Windows 7?

From Crysis to Call of Duty to Far Cry, most major games will work with Windows 7. If you're looking for a full list, compiled by Windows 7 beta users, follow this link. It has all the games that work and don't work with Windows 7.

Project Natal
In an interview with CNET News earlier this month, Bill Gates said that Project Natal will also work with Windows PCs.

He said Windows PCs could be using Natal not just for games, "but for media consumption as a whole, and even if (users) connect it up to Windows PCs for interacting, in terms of meetings and collaboration and communication." But it will all start with gaming.

Bottom Line
Will Windows 7 be a great gaming platform? Until we get our hands on the final build, there's no guarantee. What we do know now is that Windows 7 has some features that should make it far more appealing than its predecessor. And by the looks of things, as development for the platform becomes easier over time, and hardware continues to improve, we could be enjoying a stellar PC-gaming experience.

We'll just have to wait and see if that really happens.

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[Gonzie]

"Until we get our hands on the final build, there's no guarantee"

surprise! it's all theory and speculation then

[thelemurking]

well the 7100 beta has been absolutely fantastic and flaweless... I score a 5.9 with the exact same hardware that Vista gave me a 5.4 on It's definitely faster and less of a resource hog which gives games better performance. I would imagine that would be the case for the final as it would be hard to imagine some last minute change that vastly degrades overall performance.

I've been very happy with the beta... and I will definitely be hitting up Win7 Ultimate 64 when it comes out.

[Spartan_458]

The Windows 7 RC is quite impressive, so I can't imagine that the release version will be much different.

[troyoverton]

I have to agree with the replies here also. I went to Win7 in beta form on (purposely) less than stellar hardware and was pretty impressed. The release of the RC was just more of the same, with a bit more polish. I've used both 32 and 64bit flavors.

I'm an open-source guy, but I loved Win2k, and in my opinion, Windows 7 appears poised to be the best release of a Windows OS yet. I have to say, that M$ did a lot better this time and I'm looking forward to supporting this system for my Windows users.

[Saltiva]

Why are there soooo many M$ haters? They have been pioneering even in the downturned economy! I look forward to DX11 and Windows7. Vista, IMO, wasn't half bad either!

[Inconnux]

Win 7 looks a lot better than Vista for most performance based applications, and thats good news for gamers. The only games that are 'Vista only (dx10 only)' have been major failures because most PC's are still running XP. We won't really know until final release, but if they can get compatibility right, then Win7 should be good for gamers.

[myles taylor]

Yea, Don is sitting there talking about something he doesn't know about as usual. I'm always surprised that he's able to fill up a few pages talking about nothing.

[windooor7]

This is the best os ever made. i give it 10 years like xp and it will still be loved. its fast,beautiful and very good in every way. But i was sorry to hear that its is the most pirated os on earth right now.I was aolso happy to hear that google crome was dropped by major pc makers for lack of demand. If they had come one year earier than seven, they would have won. but now for 10 years microsoft will remain king of os. all i need from them is a Microphone. 3.6 screen(640*480),16gb,wireless N, 4g, 4mp cam, touchscreen(plasma)) no keyboard. and really thin.

[jazzcrazed]

I don't think it's as much speculation as you might think. I'm using the RC, and have been gaming pretty happily since the beginning of the year, with games running in XP mode, and in both 32-bit and 64. Unless something major happens in the coming few months, it should do just fine.

I've run a few old games (Freespace 2, from 1998 being the oldest), and new ones (Sims 3 for the past few months, FEAR 2, just installed Dead Space, so we'll see how well that goes).

Speculation or no, there are ways to test *now* with relative confidence as to how Windows 7 will do for gaming.

[T_Hoff]

>> Unless something major happens in the coming few months, it should do just fine.

Windows 7 is set in stone, it has reached the RTM (Release To Manufacturing) milestone.

[Sardonik]

Pretty much every PC gamer I know is switching to windows 7 if not only for the DX10-11 graphics. Everybody and their dog has a graphics card capable of it, but according to steam stats and other measures, few make full use of it. I am buying Windows 7 on release day so I can finally move up to a 64 bit OS making full use of my RAM, and DX10. It's really a matter of needing a new OS to run the gaming hardware everyone has run at suitable levels for gaming. Most people skipped vista because they heard it was slow, not so with Windows 7.

PC gaming supremacy.

[macksumum]

i think most people skipped vista because of compatibility issues and not because it was slow.that is unless you are talking only about gaming.

[ddesy]

I didn't just hear that Vista was slow, I experienced it. That includes running a fully patched version as of a month ago. The Windows 7 RC, on the other hand, runs just fine.

[knowles2]

Same here that why I skip visa plus I had a lot of software that I needed to use for uni which did not work on vista.

I am looking forward to getting Windows 7, hopefully it will be available on the Microsoft Academic alliance before my password and username is revolt because I finish my course.

[Random_Walk]

Just one question: If few games makers bothered with DX10, what makes you think they'll bother with DX11?

Note that this is ties to the old chicken and egg problem - if the majority of users stay on XP or get a Mac / install Linux, then it doesn't make much economic sense for a development house to blow tons of cash on what is essentially an unknown.

We also come up against the problem of cross-platform porting. Sure, DX(whatever) will run on a Windows Vista/7 PC and on the xbox, but that pretty much requires locking a codebase to those two platforms... something I don't see many folks outside of Bungie (and other Microsoft-locked/owned/dependent houses) doing.

re: "Most people skipped vista because they heard it was slow, not so with Windows 7."

Depends on adoption rates. Gaming has moved to mostly consoles these days, and the old desktop is being replaced by the laptop or netbook. While laptops can often replace a desktop entirely, the high-end laptops capable of doing that comprise a market that Apple owns.

Given all this, PC-only gaming is getting rare, and PC-only gaming on DX10/11 only shrinks the market further. Not something that would make it worth a dev house's while to spend megabucks on at this time, since it's all speculation as to whether or not there will be enough buyers, running Windows 7, on new(-er) hardware, to justify the ROI.

Sure, Windows 7 is more merciful on hardware than Vista, but if gamers find that XP runs even better on the new gear, then nothing short of Microsoft --and OEMs-- not supporting it anymore will stop them from using it.

[Sardonik]

"Depends on adoption rates. Gaming has moved to mostly consoles these days" . Not true, you can be forgiven for thinking this however as Digital Distribution figures are not available to the NPD group. Digital distribution is an enormous market, any user of steam can tell you that. PC gaming might not be at the forefront of gaming anymore but it's a major presence, and people will continue to make PC games, even more so using the Steam model of publishing indy games. Brick and mortar stores might not sell PC games, but it makes more sense to just use digital distribution anyway.

Oh and almost all big name games that came out in the last year or so have DX10 modes, plenty of titles like Bioshock or Company of Heroes.

[monkeyfun14]

DX10-11 Offer higher detail and more immensive gameplay

Plus graphics on a console can't even compare to the graphics on the pc you can guarantee that 9/10 times a game released for both console and pc will have twice as much detail on the PC version.

[michael_j_x]

"Gaming has moved to mostly consoles these days"
that pretty much explains why they will bother with DX11. The next-gen xbox console is said to run on DX11, so porting from the console to the pc should be very easy for coders. Plus there is all this hype now about GPGPU and software developers everywhere are starting to take notice on the GPU power that DX11 unleashes. Don't forget, DX10 was significantly different that DX9, and not backwards compatible, that's why the slow adoption. DX11 will support DX10 software.

[DrtyDogg]

30+ games and counting for DX10, from the likes of Bungie, Capcom, Crytek, EA, Epic, Relic. . . Not to shabby considering the platform isn't even 3 yet, and requires a hardware jump.

[Random_Walk]

"30+ games and counting for DX10"

...over two years (not counting dev lead-time in the run-up to Vista).

How many of them have come out in the last year, vs. the first year that DX10 has been out?

"Plus graphics on a console can't even compare to the graphics on the pc you can guarantee that 9/10 times a game released for both console and pc will have twice as much detail on the PC version."

I can actually agree with this particular bit of statement... but it doesn't explain the overall trend towards consoles as a primary gaming platform.

"Digital Distribution figures are not available to the NPD group."

A fair statement... and I also know that yes, people will continue making PC-based games. OTOH, what tech they will use will certainly change over time, though I doubt it will be to DXn's benefit.

[whiplash55]

So PC gamers are going to a Mac or Linux sure. They're such great gaming platforms.
Of coarse developers will gradually go to DX11, what else are they going to do. XP is only viable in a 32 bit configuration X64 allows you to run tons of cheap ram especially in the new Intel Core i7 and i5 processors.

[viper396]

Just ignore Penguinisto...er Random_walk. He's feeling left out because he's a Linux user. Since few developers will bother to make commercial games for Linux he's now feebly trying to argue against Windows gaming. As you can clearly see he's lost any real sense of objectivity and reality in his statements and only pretends to know more then he really does.

[Random_Walk]

"XP is only viable in a 32 bit configuration"

Not really: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/64bit/default.mspx

--

"He's feeling left out because he's a Linux user."

(/me looks down at the bottom of the screen, sees OSX dock...)

For someone who claim others to be ignorant, you sure do tend to assume too much. ;)

[Brisky86]

Ignoring everything else you said...
Bungie is no longer owned by Microsoft they went third party quiet some time ago...

Now thats out of the way continue...

[eadeguzman]

Random_Walk - yup XP, Mac and Linux are the best gaming platforms! Great analysis as usual.

Hmmm... If I'm a game developer which platform should I write against? Windows which I can easily port to XBOX later, or on the Mac which dominates the high-end laptops (90% -- wow, but it's still less than 10% of overall market, hmmm...)... Though decision...

Wait a minute, how did Mac enter this discussion?

[externallain]

I am using RC1 and I have alot of issues with my game freezing or not pulling back up when I ALT TAB out. I don't know if others have this same problem.

[DrtyDogg]

I've actually noticed the opposite, same computer when booted into 7 alt-tab from a game works a lot faster than when booted into XP.

[Imalittleteapot]

Check to see if yo have ATI or Nvidia or Intel graphics or whatever you have. If you used the video drivers that either cam through Windows update or if you just used whatever drivers that came with your computer then go download the actual Windows 7 WHQL drivers from the companies website. They've all released 7 drivers, but the ones you're using may be just a bit out of date. However, since 7 isn't released yet and RC isn't perfect a bit out of date can make a big diff.

Anyway, after installing 7 on my computer the default drivers weren't glitchy but the performance was bad. Installing updated 7 drivers from Nvidia made it perform much better, but then it got a little glitchy but I can't really notice it unless I touch my nose to the friggin screen and only does it when I start Media Player. In the song library you can see these weird red strips that are there then they're gone. Weird. Maybe it just has something to do with the new Media Player though.

Anyway, I imagine by the time 7 is actually released and another video driver update or two and things should be just about perfect again.

[macksumum]

if it does not offer split screen for multi gaming, allowing more than one person to play the same game at the same time on the same computer like what you can do on a console then i don't think that it is all that great.

[rilus]

Split screen? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Oh man... You almost got me there talking about split screen like it's an enviable feature! Good one.

[streamline35]

Agreed rilus - I almost spit water out my nose when I read that. Split screen gaming is a joke - a left over remnant from the days before online gaming on consoles. PCs haven't needed had that problem since Future Cop (and yes, that game did in fact have split screen on the PC)

[Tod Smith]

PC gaming offers the best graphics. The sad thing is they now generally program for the mainstream consoles.

Direct X 9 GPUs

[Ryan_R]

So CNET posts speculation and expects its readers to do all the testing and post below that Windows 7 is great for gaming? Must be hard to think of things to write about.

I can say that all my games (50 or so) work fine on Windows 7, and the built-in compatibility features are fantastic.

[jpsaply]

I have been gaming on the Win 7 RC1 64bit and I tell you this OS runs the games like Crysis and other alike much faster then when I tried them on XP and on Vista. I am able to also crank all my graphic settings to its max. I believe they have done something right with this OS, and hopefully now more game developers will make more games and take full advantage of Win 7 with its DX11.

[noahjwhite]

I have to agree with the above posts about performance. I'm using the 2100 build of windows7.

[DMBoricua]

Windows 7 RC 64-bit was able to install the appropriate sound and video drivers for my computer and was able to pretty much plug and play. 64-bit 7 Found the right video driver for my NVidia Geforce 260 GTX automatically right from fresh installation so all I did was get Steam, log on to my account, install Counter Strike: Source and play, using all high graphic settings. I found this to be VERY good apart from XP (which you have to manually install drivers) and Vista (which always either installed the wrong video driver or installed a generic video driver which would not work for games). I am looking forward to installing Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit on my gaming tower.

[ikjadoon]

So AMD/ATI are doing nothing for Windows 7, then?

An OS, IMO, shouldn't be biased towards one particular manufacturer. I know Intel has a greater market share, but AMD is quite sizable, too.

[shellcodes_coder]

AMD/ATI have contributed to the development of Windows 7 and have even praised 7: http://blogs.amd.com/play/2009/07/15/windows-7-%e2%80%93-the-birth-of-a-great-os/

:)

[SNOOP_ROCA]

I tried playing COD 5 on the RC, and I couldn't get the god damn directX 9 working, it wouldn't download..... hopefully the final version will have that problem fixed

[Nataku4ca]

why are u trying to install dx9... u should be using either dx10 or if available dx 11 =.=

[kelmon]

"The official release is right around the corner, and some folks are looking forward to using the new OS. But is it an ideal platform for gamers too?"

No, because the PC is never an "ideal" platform for gaming simply due to the hardware requirement variations. However, it is almost certainly the best platform for PC gaming so if that is how you like your gaming then Windows 7 will do you fine.

[shellcodes_coder]

Windows 7 x64 runs Cyrsis, GTA 4, BioShock and other games very well; much better than both Vista and XP did. I get more FPS. Can't wait for the final version :)

[madheroesfan]

if it makes my games run faster and smoother on my 8800GT (considering it uses less resources i'm certain it will) then i'm all for it.

[Sardonik]

Well it might but you probably should get a new card anyway, 8800GT/9800GT are pretty much the bottom for acceptable gaming use.

[streamline35]

Sardonik, that's ridiculous. They are more along the lines of "lowest card that can still crank all but the heaviest games up close to max settings". The 8600/9600GT great are for more mid level gaming, and you could play most games on lower levels with the 9500GT, and maybe even the 9400GT (if you don't mind cranking down the resolution).

But as far as the 8800/9800GT go, those are both still excellent high end cards. Of course I love my GTX260, but I had an 8800GT before that (which one of my friends uses now), and it is still a very good card.

[Sardonik]

Not to get all "but what about Crysis" but what about Crysis? What about Company of Heroes, World in conflict, Supreme Commander, Grand Theft Auto 4? What about Empire: Total War (after a billion patches)? Yeah, I agree, the 8800GT is a great card, for last year's games. I'm on my old 8800GT right now in fact because my GTX 260 shorted out or something and I RMA'd it. It's a great card that runs games like Team Fortress 2 and Eve Online flawlessly, but it's not enough to play last years games at max resolution and detail, you want to be able to play tomorrow's games at high-medium detail, and today's maxed.

[streamline35]

Actually I totally agree with everything you just said - like I said, I had that card as well, and I tried most of those games you mentioned, and had a similar experience. I could play them close to max detail, but not all the way. And I think we can both agree that even the 8800GT still kicks the crap out of anything you'd see on a console.

The only thing I disagreed on was that they are the bottom for "acceptable gaming use". But really that's a matter of opinion, and when it comes down to practice, it looks like we have identical taste in video cards.

[Sardonik]

Absolutely, PC gaming supremacy.

[NWLB]

Unless it makes existing games look better, or existing games upgrade in-advance of Win7 to take advantage of what it can do, it means little.

I just upgraded my hardware, am happy with what I have. Sure, I might get Win7, nothing against it, but until my precious MMO's with their lush LOTRO graphics can look better, it isn't a selling feature.

[streamline35]

That's silly - how the game looks is up to the developers of the game, not the makers of your OS. Granted, the OS can help them run better (which it sounds like win7 does), and it can provide tools for the developers to make the game look better (dx11), but as for how it actually looks, you'll have to take that up with the game developer. If you can crank it up to max settings and it still doesn't look good enough for you, that has nothing to do with your OS.

[jpsaply]

Depending what you already have and are running at, you may be able to increase your graphical settings and get better performance. I have played LOTRO on XP, Vista, and now Win 7 RC. Win 7 by far allows LOTRO to have far greater performance with all my settings maxed.

[Neumenon]

I wonder where the Apple and Ubuntu supporters are and what their opinions might be about their inability to play cool games based on the limitations of their respective OS'

?

[shellcodes_coder]

Dude let them enjoy cartoon games on their beloved mac and linux :)

[sanjayb]

They are probably doing more productive things than wasting time playing games like u are.

[Inconnux]

Ubuntu is superior to just about everything but gaming, just because there are so few games on Linux. Same with Apple. If you want to game, you MUST have a PC. (sorry console users... people who want precision in their controllers use a mouse/keyboard)

[Benfea]

Compatibility with older games is bad.

My main beef with Windows Vista was that a lot of my older games wouldn't work under it. Windows 7 goes even further in that a few games that worked under Windows Vista with a bit of crowbar use don't work at all under Windows 7. So if you only play the latest games, you're fine, but if like me you enjoy messing around with the occasional older games, stick with Windows XP.

[shellcodes_coder]

Use your brain, many games that are not compatible with Vista and 7 will work in both Vista and 7. Set the compatibility mode to XP and make sure it's run with admin privilege (Right click and select 'Run As Administrator'). I have managed to run many older games by doing so

[jpsaply]

What games do you consider old? I currently run Icewind Dale (relreased in 2000) and Baulders Gate (released 1998) on Windows 7 without using compatibility mode. MS has fixed allot of the problems that VIsta had and implemented those fixes into Win 7. I have been using the Win 7 RC since its release to public and havent had any problems with old or new software, not to say there isnt any out there that wont work. Nor have I had problems with drivers. Its still not to late to download Win 7 RC and get a key to try it out. I recommend if you have knowledge of how to backup your important files and go about doing a format/fresh install to at least try it. I'll never go back to Vista or XP.

[TanoliCnet]

My name is Tahir ans m from Pakistan.i am waiting for this Nature like operating system developed by Microsoft.i hope that it will fulfill all the requirement for Gaming.
I hope that they will develop more function in their upcoming system.
~*~ I Love My Country Pakistan ~*~