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Windows 11 rollout officially begins today, which means current Windows 10 users with compatible machines will be encouraged to upgrade their operating system for free over the next few months. Microsoft’s blog posts on the new operating system touted themselves as “the best Windows ever for gaming” – here’s what that will mean in practice for PC gamers.
The biggest change in Windows 11 for gamers concerns two features originally developed for the Xbox Series X | S: Auto HDR and DirectStorage. Both require some hardware to fully experience the benefits, but if you already have a suitable gaming rig, you should be clear.
Auto HDR
As the name suggests, Auto HDR is a feature that will automatically upgrade in-game graphics to High Dynamic Range, given that you have a display that supports HDR. The feature is compatible with “more than 1000 DirectX 11 and DirectX 12 games”, improving the range of colors displayed and allowing better contrast and brightness.
Direct storage
The other feature that has been migrated from the Xbox Series X | S is DirectStorage, which allows gaming PCs to load games faster and render the kinds of expansive or detailed game worlds that would typically trip underperforming PCs. . However, the feature requires your PC to include an NVMe SSD and a DirectX 12 GPU in order to function.
Material support
While not exactly new to Windows 11, Microsoft promises that the new iteration of Windows “will continue to have the most extensive hardware support in the world,” which includes the new Xbox controllers. generation, the Xbox Adaptive Controller and of course a wide range of third-party gaming peripherals.
Xbox app and game pass
Microsoft also continues to push its software, subscription and streaming ambitions with Windows 11, with the Xbox app being integrated into the usual software suite. The Xbox app includes the built-in Game Pass, giving subscribers an easy way to access their game library. To make the app a one-stop-shop for gamers, it will also include Xbox Cloud Gaming in the same app.
Windows 11 will be rolled out automatically to the appropriate machines over the next few months, but in the meantime you can check if your PC is ready for the upgrade, including enabling TPM 2.0 if you need to.
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