Is Windows 10 Ready For Gamers?

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Into Tomorrow listener Greg in Nashville, Tennessee listening on Supertalk 99.7 WTN has a question about Windows 10 and gaming:

I’m updating to Windows 10 on my son’s computer. He’s wondering if Steam and Roblox games are compatible. He has updated in the past and lost his ability to play those games.

If you’re updating from Windows 8.1 nothing should change, it seems like almost every game that was working for 8.1 is working fine on Windows 10 – at least so far.

There are two things to consider though: 1) If you’re upgrading from Windows 7 some games may need patches like they did for Windows 8, and 2) most games seem to be ok, but that means nothing if the ones you want to run are not ok.

Windows 10 has been out for a little bit by now, and people seem to at least be giving it a try, so your best bet may be to search for specific games and see if they’re playing nice with the new version of Windows. Microsoft’s own forums have a list of games with reports as to whether or not they’re working under Windows 10.

Some have reported that Steam works but that it had given them trouble before they reinstalled everything, so make sure your son knows that there may be an easy solution if his games don’t work immediately after installing.

It’s not about Steam, however

The real issue isn’t with Steam but rather it’s with DirectX 12 and the games themselves. Most game developers are saying that their games will work with DirectX 12, but the truth is that a lot of them aren’t working as reliably as they did under DirectX 11.

We have no doubt at all this will change over time. DirectX 12 will become the new standard for Windows video games, patches will come out, and we can all go back to killing zombies or blowing up space ships with impunity.

The question is why upgrade, at least right now? There isn’t one thing you’ll be able to do under Windows 10 today that you can’t already do under Windows 8.1 and, as we said, there is a chance that some things will break. Other than bragging rights, why update so quickly? There has already been one glitched Windows 10 update that put computers into an infinite reboot loop. Do you want to buy into that, right now?

Wait for a bit. You have a year before you lose the free upgrade. Maybe even wait for Service Pack 1 before you jump ship. Because you know it’s coming! Good luck!