Ted Kritsonis
Special to Globe and Mail Update Published on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009 10:09AM EDT Last updated on Friday, Oct. 23, 2009 1:09PM EDT
With Windows 7 launching this month, there have been a number of questions about what sort of impact Microsoft's new operating system will have on PC gaming.
For the most part, Windows 7 has been designed to run the same devices and software that already work with Vista, which also applies to games, says Sue Borden, senior marketing manager for Windows 7 at Microsoft Canada.
She admits that “hardware is a huge variable” and suggests that the Windows Experience Index, which measures a PC's hardware and software compatibility, as a good place to start because of the base score it gives you between 1.0 and 7.9. The higher the score, the more powerful and compatible the PC is to run a wider gamut of games.
“Running older games in Compatibility mode will likely fix 99 per cent of any problems you might have,” says Borden. “Incompatible games more than likely have compatibility fixes available online, and you will be notified in the Action Centre when an update or workaround is available.”
Vista had a Games Explorer that was decent for aggregating a PC's game titles, but user feedback suggested Microsoft needed to do more with it. In 7, the Games Explorer has been redesigned to give you the choice to receive software updates and news feeds for installed titles, negating the need to launch a game to install a simple update.
It will also keep track of stats and progress for game, as well as include parental controls that keep certain titles away from younger kids.
But there have been some limitations to note with this.
Downloading older PC games from services such as Steam or GoG.com don't always show up in the Explorer pane. Casual games that you may have downloaded from other sources are hit or miss as well. Many users concerned about game compatibility put together a list of titles.
On the graphics side, Windows 7 comes with DirectX 11 installed, but Borden says the new OS is equally compatible with DirectX 9 and DirectX 10, so running older games from XP's heyday shouldn't be a problem. The built-in Program Compatibility Wizard and Compatibility tab are supposed to help older applications run on 7 by “fixing most issues related to permissions and access rights.”
“From a video card perspective, Windows 7 is compatible with cards currently in market with a very mature driver release backing their performance,” Borden says, “Out of box it ships with most high-end video card drivers and once you connect to Windows Update – they are then updated to the most current versions from the manufacturers.”
Running 7 in 64-bit mode should also make a difference in performance if you're using a PC with plenty of RAM. There is a slight uptick in frame rates, according to gamer chatter over various forums, though there is an expectation that things could get better once new drivers are made available for compatible video cards.
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