I agree, i'm not a fan of mantle, PhysX, gameworks.. I mean I like what they do, but knowing all that is technically possible but is intentionally being limited to one brand or the other is annoying.
Yeah but I mean, having one universally supported API is better for all. I'm not even a fan of Nvidia Gameworks even though I can benefit with my cards.
here's the final and clear answer from Microsoft:
It will be a free upgrade for those who choose to upgrade within a year of release. End of story. No additional fees, no subscription.
Sources:
http://www.pcgamer.com/microsoft-windows-10-will-not-be-sold-as-a-subscription/
http://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/2015/01/21/the-next-generation-of-windows-windows-10/
It's still not clear to me what Microsoft means by "for the supported lifetime of the device."
Doesn't that mean, we'll support your particular *device* until we don't want to support it any more? Ugh, why can't they just use strait talkin' words? I just hope the supported lifetime is kind of like how they have a supported lifetime of the entire operating system. But by changing their wording to specify "device" raises some eyebrows.
Why draw a distinction between how long they support the device vs. how long they support the operating system? Sneaky.
It's still not clear to me what Microsoft means by "for the supported lifetime of the device."
Doesn't that mean, we'll support your particular *device* until we don't want to support it any more? Ugh, why can't they just use strait talkin' words? I just hope the supported lifetime is kind of like how they have a supported lifetime of the entire operating system. But by changing their wording to specify "device" raises some eyebrows.
Why draw a distinction between how long they support the device vs. how long they support the operating system? Sneaky.
I think it's like any OEM install. You're allowed to install it on one device and if you swap out the motherboard, you're legally obligated to buy a new license. At least that's how I'm interpreting it.
Free Windows 10 is awesome, especially all the way back to Windows 7. That was unexpected. I wonder if I can upgrade a 32-bit install to 64-bit on a clean install with the free upgrade
It's still not clear to me what Microsoft means by "for the supported lifetime of the device."
Doesn't that mean, we'll support your particular *device* until we don't want to support it any more? Ugh, why can't they just use strait talkin' words? I just hope the supported lifetime is kind of like how they have a supported lifetime of the entire operating system. But by changing their wording to specify "device" raises some eyebrows.
Why draw a distinction between how long they support the device vs. how long they support the operating system? Sneaky.
The distinction is that there won't be a Windows 11, I think. It's now more along the lines of just giving feature updates as they become available.
so obvious. hook, line and sinker.
free upgrade for win7 and win8 for the first year. this gets everyone on to win10.
after the first year. charge an ongoing subscription fee for ongoing updates.
nothing is free - especially windows.
Except this time the Windows upgrade is free, and win 10 will not be a subscription model. They know the money are in the windows store.
http://www.pcgamer.com/microsoft-windows-10-will-not-be-sold-as-a-subscription/
It's still not clear to me what Microsoft means by "for the supported lifetime of the device."
Doesn't that mean, we'll support your particular *device* until we don't want to support it any more? Ugh, why can't they just use strait talkin' words? I just hope the supported lifetime is kind of like how they have a supported lifetime of the entire operating system. But by changing their wording to specify "device" raises some eyebrows.
Why draw a distinction between how long they support the device vs. how long they support the operating system? Sneaky.
so obvious. hook, line and sinker.
free upgrade for win7 and win8 for the first year. this gets everyone on to win10.
after the first year. charge an ongoing subscription fee for ongoing updates.
nothing is free - especially windows.
How is it that people keep posting the same....*stuff*...."It'll be a subscription" when if they'd just read even a couple posts in ANY of these threads they'd find a link to the information saying it *isn't* a subscription model.
Either way, DX12 is going to revolutionize PC gaming. Faster frame rates, more complex scenes, more CPU power for other things like physics and A.I, less energy use....whats not to like? :thumbsup:
What a revolution. If only someone had had the idea before.
Oh, wait.
I merely pointed out your funny use of the word "revolution".
But they aren't. Sorta. It's good for only the first year and I'm not sure what happens if you need to reinstall windows 10 after that.
If you're talking about Mantle, then you're right, people did have that idea before, and it failed. The market rejected vendor specific APIs in the past, because of lack of compatibility across architectures, and it's going to do so again with Mantle..
Or did you think that Mantle was the first low level API for PCs?
... Except that Mantle is no longer vendor-specific. Intel will likely support it soon, though Nvidia will skip it because they only use proprietary things unless they have a good reason to use something that other people use. If Nvidia could get away with it, they'd make their own display connector.
Here's an interesting pic that I found, showing the difference between DX11 and DX12 in draw calls. DX12 is able to hit 120 FPS, 4x faster than DX11 which is stuck at 30 FPS. DX12 is also getting 73,626 draw calls per frame compared to DX11's 47,514.
To be honest, I'm shocked that DX11 can even get that many draw calls
Either way, DX12 is going to revolutionize PC gaming. Faster frame rates, more complex scenes, more CPU power for other things like physics and A.I, less energy use....whats not to like? :thumbsup:
How does "Intel will likely support it soon," lead to "Mantle is no longer vendor-specific?"
Until Intel announces they collaborating with AMD on Mantle development, then Mantle no longer being vendor specific cannot be a true statement.
I googled Intel, AMD and Mantle and the hits that I got said that Intel approached AMD about access to the Mantle API, but were rebuffed. And this was last year.
Source
Anyway, you can't develop a cross architectural API in the kind of closed ecosystem that AMD has developed Mantle in. Things like that have to be done with close collaboration from the very beginning.