Windows 10 has plenty of new eye candy but it’s also bringing over a somewhat tarnished legacy from Windows 8. And, amid all the hoopla surrounding its release, no other group is as excited as gamers – and with good reason.
Let’s break down some of the new features and how they can (or can’t) make Windows 10 the best OS for video games:
Start Menu
While not necessarily related to gaming, this is the most requested fix from Windows 8. I’m still not exactly sure why it was removed in the first place and it’s strange to imagine life without it.
This newest revision to the Start Menu brings over some features from Windows 8 – like tiles – but offers more customization. But even though we’ll have the ability to remove those tiles if we don’t want them, I wish they would just bring back Classic Mode because it’s the first thing I switch for every OS revision.
The Start Menu has been a core part of Windows since 1995 and one of the most recognizable features of the OS. Now that its back again, let’s hope it works the way it should: to make things easier for us gamers.
HoloLens
People have been trying to find a better way to move around the screen ever since the invention of the mouse. And while the HoloLens is exciting, I just don’t feel it will apply to the average gamer.
Don’t get me wrong, this is a great feature and a decent upgrade from Kinect; I just don’t think I’ll have any practical use for it. However, I do love all the new control methods and I’m eager to try it out.
These controls will probably be fun for a few minutes, but when you think about how much physical effort it takes to play a game for hours on end, waving your arms like a wacky inflatable salesman isn’t exactly something I want to do. I would rather go outside and mine for real gold than swing a fake pickaxe in Minecraft.
Once a game becomes a chore, it’s no longer fun. I’d also rather be outdoors if I have to do chores.
Game Streaming
Windows 10 lets you stream games from your Xbox One to a PC or tablet so you can play from another room. Maybe you want to watch TV with the wife but not miss that race with a friend? This is a great feature if you own an Xbox One but not so great for those who don’t.
While this is a new feature in Windows 10, cloud gaming has been around for some time in other hardware like the Nvidia Shield. I’m just happy to see it available for the masses, finally. Let’s hope the latency will be right for gaming.
Xbox App
The Xbox app looks a lot like Steam but adds voice and text chat for users of Xbox Live. Pressing Windows+G will bring up a useful gameplay-saving function – allowing you to save video of the last 30 seconds of gameplay. You can also use the app to share directly to other platforms so all your achievements and videos from console to PC will be in one central place.
This might be great feature for those of you who consider consoles your secret passion, but it could definitely hurt your street cred. Just imagine what would happen if everyone knew you were playing Just Dance or Zumba Fitness? Maybe you can blame the wife and kids.
DirectX 12
Now this is where it gets exciting. Performance is rumored to be around 50% better over DirectX 11, while cutting power consumption by half. Game platforms like Unreal and Unity have already started developing for DirectX 12 and Fable Legends will be one of the first titles where PC and Xbox One players will finally be united.
A lot of development with DirectX 12 is supposed to reduce driver overhead and get systems running like streamlined consoles as explained in a recent tweet by Brad Wardell, CEO of Stardock:
“Did a test of DirectX 11 vs. DirectX 12 on an unreleased GPU with an 8-core CPU. DX11: 13fps, DX12: 120fps. Lighting and lens effects.”
Another interesting feature with DX 12 is it may offer support for video cards from both Nvidia and ATI in the same system. Will this mean PhysX and Mantle are working together to provide the best of both worlds? Let’s hope so.
Will You Upgrade to Windows 10?
This can be an exciting time to consider upgrading your OS. For me, Windows 10 is definitely a great upgrade from what I have now – especially because of all these new features. But I’m only a gamer in the game of life.
What features are you looking forward to?
