Windows 10 is not only going to have visual novelties in the second major annual update. Microsoft is preparing numerous changes, among which a new design and apps have now been confirmed in the Microsoft Store , in addition to the arrival of the DirectStorage API that will allow games, programs and the operating system to load much faster, even if you do not have one. one of the best SSDs on the market .
DirectStorage will work even with NVMe PCIe 3.0 SSD
Buying a SATA SSD is becoming less and less attractive, and with DirectStorage just around the corner, it doesn’t make sense either. This feature was announced last year, debuting first on consoles. With it, the games could load directly in just 3 or 4 seconds and follow exactly where we were going, thanks to dumping all the content stored in RAM at that moment to the SSD, and return it to RAM when you want to load the game again .
This feature is spectacular, and at the end of last year, Microsoft confirmed that it would also be coming to Windows 10. However, we did not know which SSDs would be compatible with it, since it was possible that only PCIe 4.0 SSDs could be used because of their throughput that exceeds 5,000 MB / s read.
Luckily, Microsoft confirmed yesterday at a developer conference that DirectStorage will also be compatible with NVMe PCIe 3.0 SSDs, and with any DirectX 12 compatible graphics card, which is where the functionality will be integrated. Mind you, Microsoft recommends that the card be compatible with DirectX 12 Ultimate , which includes support for Ray Tracing, Variable Shading, Mesh Shader, and Sampler Feedback. In the case of NVIDIA, the RTX 2000 and RTX 3000 series are compatible with DirectX 2 Ultimate.
Thanks to this, the graphics card can directly access the SSD to load textures and game elements faster, significantly reducing load times and latency as compute shaders decompress game resources. In addition, the consumption of computer resources is reduced, since the load on the processor when opening a game is reduced. Not only will large items load quickly, but also when there are many requests for small files, for which it will be advisable to have an SSD with high IOPS for random reading and writing.
Therefore, if you have a SATA SSD, you will not benefit from this improvement. You will likely notice some better performance thanks to Sampler Feedback, as it will improve memory efficiency
The Microsoft Store will accept Win32 programs, such as Chrome or VLC
Additionally, Microsoft appears to be testing a new design and functionality for the Windows 10 Microsoft Store as well. With Sun Valley, cosmetic changes are coming to the entire system, and it looks like they’re coming to their store as well. The edges will be rounded, the icons will be designed by Fluent Design .
But that is not the only change that will come. And it is that Microsoft seems that it will also accept Win32 programs in EXE and MSI format . In addition, it will allow developers to receive payments directly from users , where Microsoft will not keep a percentage of the money, with the aim of offering a secure and open platform that gives users confidence. In addition, apps downloaded from the store will be able to update automatically outside of Microsoft, which in turn could introduce some security risks, but will maintain the freedom that is now.
With all this, for example, we will have a single site to download programs like Chrome or VLC without having to resort to the developers’ websites, and giving companies much more freedom.
