The recent launch of Windows 8 was accompanied by the release of DirectX 11.1 for the new operating system, but Microsoft apparently won’t be adding the API to previous versions of Windows, including Windows 7.
“DirectX 11.1 is part of Windows 8, just like DirectX 11 was part of Windows 7…at this point there is no plan for DirectX 11.1 to be made available on Windows 7,” confirmed Microsoft’s Daniel Moth on the Visual Studio support forum.
Among a number of other improvements and performance boosters, DirectX 11.1 introduces native support for stereoscopic 3D for games and videos, a feature previously limited to specific (and expensive) hardware.
For the moment then, DirectX 11.1 will be available only in Windows 8, Windows RT, and Windows Server 2012. It’s probably worth noting, though, that DirectX 11 was first released with Windows 7, but later retrofitted for Windows Vista.
Source: Neowin
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