DirectX is a concept that occasionally comes across Windows users, especially gaming enthusiasts. About 4-5 years ago, updating DirectX was necessary to play a newly released game. However, that is no longer the case today. So, what is DirectX? Why is DirectX update no longer necessary today? We have answered all these questions.
What is DirectX?
Introduced in 1996 with Windows 95, DirectX forms the foundation of Windows’ success in gaming. While computers running the macOS operating system now have powerful hardware, when it comes to gaming, the best performance is still provided by Windows.
To put it simply, DirectX allows game developers to access hardware and make fine-tuning adjustments to games. When it comes to consoles like PlayStation or Xbox, game developers have an easier task since they optimize their games for a single hardware platform.
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However, in the case of computers, there are thousands of different configurations. This is where DirectX becomes useful. Games can directly communicate with the computer’s hardware and work optimally.
If we delve into the technical side, DirectX is an application programming interface (API) that provides low-level access to hardware components such as the graphics card, sound card, and RAM. In the days of DOS, games had direct access to hardware such as the graphics card and motherboard.
Microsoft considered this situation risky and, with Windows 95, restricted direct access to certain hardware. Since this posed a problem for games, DirectX was developed to facilitate access. In other words, this technology serves as a bridge between games and hardware.
DirectX is not the only API protocol available to game developers today. However, its advantage lies in being specific to Windows. With DirectX 12 Ultimate, Microsoft blurs the line between PC and Xbox Series X, making it much easier for game developers to adapt their games to every platform.
It’s worth noting that DirectX is not solely used for games. It is also utilized for hardware acceleration in another critical area: playing or editing high-resolution videos.
How to determine the version of DirectX?
Microsoft released DirectX 11 with Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 versions. The latest operating system, Windows 10, comes with DirectX 12 installed. As of February 2021, the latest version is DirectX 12 Ultimate.
Finding out which version is installed on your computer is quite simple. After accessing the Start menu or Start screen, type “dxdiag” and press Enter. Under the System tab on the opened window, you will see the installed version on your computer.
How to update DirectX?
In the latest versions of Windows, there is no need to download any files. Updates can be done directly through Windows Update. However, if the need for an update arises, there are two different methods:
- After Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2, DirectX updates are not provided as individual files/packages. Therefore, on operating systems released after Windows 7, all you need to do is check for updates.
- If you are using Windows 7 or an older version, you can visit Microsoft’s official page for installing the latest DirectX version by clicking here.
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