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In some ways, debating whether or not Windows Vista is good for gaming is a moot point. A futile argument. Water under the bridge. That's because, like it or not, Microsoft Corp.'s shiny new operating system is here to stay. By the end of 2007, a whole new generation of games for Windows Vista will be here as well. At that point, if you're a Windows gamer, you'll have no choice but to upgrade to Vista -- unless you're ready to throw in the towel on PC gaming and buy an Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or Nintendo Wii instead.In the meantime, Vista will continue to polarize the masses, generating tons of high-octane comments and flames on its numerous strengths and failings, both for gaming and more productive endeavors. Truth be told, despite the flak Microsoft has taken for removingplanned features from Vista and missing its target launch date by years, this is an ambitious new operating system in numerous categories, including 3D graphics and gaming.
But is the new OS good for gaming? To answer this question, we explored Vista's gaming strengths and weaknesses in depth. What we found at the end of the day was fairly surprising. Read on for answers, detailed explanations, and several suggestions that will help you get the most out of Vista gaming.

Three reasons Windows Vista is no good for PC gaming
1. Hardware incompatibilities. It's no huge surprise to anyone that the upgrade to Windows Vista has created numerous instances of driver incompatibility and dissatisfaction -- these issues arise whenever there's a major OS upgrade. What has been surprising is the frustrations gamers have experienced in getting their existing hardware -- 3D graphics cards and otherwise -- to work with their existing games library in Windows Vista at the same performance levels as in Windows XP. The Internet is rife with reports of games such as World of Warcraft and F.E.A.R. running at 20% to 40% slower frame rates.
Not surprisingly, the chief culprit is 3D card drivers, particularly for DirectX 9 (DX9) and lower-caliber video cards. (DirectX is a Windows API designed by Microsoft to allow software developers standardized low-level access to PC peripherals such as the video graphics processor. The newest version is DirectX 10.)
Windows Vista includes a brand new driver model that taps the graphics processing unit (GPU) to perform memory scheduling, which is useful for allocating memory and other system resources to each open application. The OS also uses the GPU to create and maintain multiple instances of 3D graphics use at both the interface and application levels. As an example, each open window in Vista -- be it a folder, game, or otherwise -- is considered a separate application, and the graphics involved in displaying this application are controlled by the GPU.
Under Windows XP, the operating system itself, not the GPU, performed these functions. More specifically, drivers for XP were written to and resided in kernel mode -- the base layer of Windows. In order to allow the GPU to maintain the aforementioned instances of 3D applications, on the other hand, drivers for Windows Vista operate at a more localized layer of the operating system known as user mode.
The good news is that this architecture shift should result in increased stability under Vista. Because the driver is localized and exists in multiple instances, a crash that is caused by or otherwise affects the graphics driver will have no adverse impact on other 3D applications.
The bad news is that it's going to take time for developers to figure out the most effective way to write drivers for this new model. Today's performance slowdowns are largely a result of driver developers having to relearn the delicate process of writing the most efficient code for graphics processors.
Unless you want to roll your system back to Windows XP, the simple answer to this problem is to keep updating your video card drivers -- graphics card manufacturers ATI (now owned by Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.) and nVidia Corp. are constantly releasing new and improved drivers. Thankfully, with each driver iteration released by the companies, gaming performance for DX9 cards in Windows Vista has improved. In another few months, it's highly likely this will be a non-issue. In the meantime, however, gamers will suffer.
2. Backward incompatibility. One of the biggest frustrations for any gamer around an OS upgrade is the hard fact that some legacy games simply will not work in the new OS environment. For example, the upgrade from Windows 98/ME to Windows XP in 2002 proved devastating for this reporter. My old favorite High Heat Baseball, a game that had received hundreds of hours of play, simply would not work under any circumstances.
The same frustration is occurring in large doses for gamers who have transitioned to Windows Vista. Chris Donahue, Microsoft's Director of Windows Graphics and Gaming Technologies, told Computerworld that the software giant had tested the 1,000 most popular PC games over the last five years on a variety of hardware configurations in the Vista environment. That's a good start, but given the wide variety of PC games on the planet, it's only a small dent.
For what it's worth, Donahue also noted that Windows Vista is way ahead of where Windows XP was in the same timeframe in terms of graphics performance and backward compatibility. Unfortunately, this is small consolation for gamers who can't get their favorite titles to work properly.
One of the biggest complicating factors in getting legacy Win XP games to work in Windows Vista is the new operating system's User Account Control functionality. This new security feature forces users to work using restricted "standard" accounts, as opposed to defaulting to all-powerful "admin" accounts. According to Donahue, the resulting new model for installing applications and files in write-protected directories is one of the biggest sources of backward incompatibility. The answer is to specify another directory -- one that a standard user account can write to -- rather than the "Program Files" folder when installing games.
One other source of backward incompatibility appears to be caused by the StarForce copy-protection schemes that many game makers have incorporated into their titles. Older versions of this popular form of anti-piracy software have been reported as causing a number of errors that have prevented gamers from playing their favorite Win XP games. The cause? Simple incompatibility -- like many applications, old versions of StarForce don't work properly in Vista environments. StarForce recently released a new version of its software that is certified to be compatible with Vista; unfortunately, the only way to get it is to download a patch for your particular game from the game publisher's site.
As a general (if obvious) rule, you should download and install any available updates for your games before running them. Many developers and publishers have released patches that increase compatibility with Vista.
One final note: For an excellent breakdown of the most popular games' ability to operate under Windows Vista, see ExtremeTech's Will Vista Run Your Games?
3. Lack of DirectX 10 games. Incompatibilities are awful, but perhaps the greatest flaw with Vista gaming is the fact that, as of March 2007, not a single DirectX 10 game has been released. And none are close to being released. The sad truth for gamers is that it will take at least six months for Windows game developers to finish the DX10 titles that are currently under development. Crysis is one of the titles gamers are most excited about, but it's not scheduled for release until late 2007.
This means that during this half-year waiting period, there really isn't any reason for gamers to switch to Windows Vista. However, users with DX10 video cards such as nVidia's GeForce 8800 GTX or GTS may experience gaming satisfaction with legacy games on the new OS. Microsoft and numerous outlets have indicated that DX10 video cards have provided nice performance boosts for DX9 video games. Our tests have confirmed this, showing frame rate boosts in F.E.A.R. and Supreme Commander.

Six reasons Windows Vista is good for PC gaming
1. DirectX 10. Without a doubt, Vista's support for DirectX 10 is the primary reason why gaming in the Windows environment will transcend gamers' wildest dreams and far exceed the visual quality of even the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. "When DX10 games come out," Chris Donahue said, "the end result will be a significant increase in visual fidelity."
This means a marked increase in the number of objects and/or characters on the screen at a time, as well as dramatic impact on the level of background detail -- trees, water, stars -- in outdoor and indoor environments. It also means, for example, that characters' clothing and fur will flap in the wind. Based on the early gameplay screenshots released for DX10 games such as Crysis, the impact of this new version of DirectX is quite clear even at a glance. (See the comparative scenes from Age of Conan: The Hyborian Adventures below.)
This increase in graphical quality is due to a number of enhancements in DirectX 10 code, operations, and resulting capabilities. As an example, a brand-new shader model (version 4.0) in DX10 allows for more detailed and nuanced 3D graphics. (A shader guides GPUs in defining 3D objects with colors and/or textures.) DirectX 10 is such a leap forward in graphics technology that Microsoft has actually included the old version of DirectX -- version 9 -- in Windows Vista along with this new version. In fact, Vista's much-vaunted Aero interface actually runs on DirectX 9.
To take advantage of this new functionality, gamers will have to purchase new DX10-compatible 3D graphics cards, such as nVidia's GeForce 8800 series. On the downside, these cards cost between $400 and $600. On the upside, nVidia will likely announce and release lower-end versions of these graphics processors sometime over the next few months.


A scene from Age of Conan: The Hyborian Adventures as seen in DX9.
The same scene when viewed in DX10. Both images courtesy of GamePro.com.
2. Crysis. Based upon the early buzz and screenshots of this 3D action shooter, it's highly likely that upon its release in late 2007, Crysis will single-handedly make Windows Vista good for gaming. Under development by German developer Crytek and being published in the United States by Electronic Arts, Crysis challenges gamers with repelling invading alien forces intent upon conquering earth.
The game's embrace of DirectX 10 has resulted in near-photorealistic graphics that have gamers around the world drooling. (See the image at the bottom of the page for an example. And for a detailed story on Crysis, see Console Crysis? on GamePro.com.)
3. Windows Game Advisor. One of the chief difficulties with PC gaming is determining whether or not a system's processor, memory, and video card are adequate enough to play a state-of-the-art game. Microsoft's Windows Game Advisor allows gamers to quickly ascertain how their systems stack up with the click of a button. That's pretty handy.

4. Games for Windows Live. Scheduled for release on May 8, 2007, this new service will provide interoperability between the Xbox 360 and Windows Vista platforms. This means that when Halo 2 is released in May on Windows Vista, PC gamers will be able to play against Xbox 360 gamers. Other titles that will support cross-platform multiplayer gaming are Shadowrun and Uno, one of the most popular multiplayer games on the Xbox Live service.
Games for Windows Live (also known as GFW Live) is a subscription service that functions in a similar fashion to Xbox Live. Gamers will be able to choose from two tiers of service -- a free "Silver" account that will allow minimum multiplayer functionality or a full-featured $50/year "Gold" account. Logging into GFW Live will provide matchmaking, access to new downloadable games and more. Gamers who already have Xbox Live accounts will be able to transport their gamertags (usernames) and accounts to GFW Live.
One of the advantages to these Live services is that they keep track of gamers' accomplishments in both single-player and multiplayer games over time, allowing a player to develop a network of friends as well as a reputation to uphold (or improve upon) with those friends. This is a quantum leap over previous incarnations of PC-based multiplayer games, which until now have existed in isolated game-by-game instances with no centralized usernames or statistics tracking.
In theory, GFW is a powerful, forward-thinking idea. However, we do have some substantial concerns around Microsoft's ability to protect users' security. A number of controversies have recently erupted over hacked Xbox Live accounts, an inability of Xbox Live support staff to identify and prevent identify theft, and numerous other complaints regarding online security.
Given the networking and security similarities between Xbox Live and GFW Live, this is a potential deal-breaker for this innovative new service. Until Microsoft demonstrates that it is addressing these security problems in a preventative manner, it's impossible to recommend that gamers rush out and sign up for the service. Thankfully, there's no real reason to do so yet because there aren't a large number of games available.

A jaw-dropping scene from the upcoming Crysis, due in late 2007. Courtesy of GamePro.com.PAGE 5
5. Parental Controls in Vista. Parents will love the ability to regulate the types of gaming content their children are able to play. And Windows Vista goes one step further by allowing parents to regulate when their kids are able to play games as well. This probably sounds draconian to some, but these parental controls demonstrate that Microsoft understands parents' needs in the changing digital world.

6. DirectX 11 ... and beyond. One of the strengths of Windows-based gaming is the constant evolution of the platform at the hardware level. Microsoft has been quick to capitalize upon these hardware improvements with a constant series of revisions and upgrades for DirectX.
With DirectX 10, Windows Vista has ushered in a new architectural foundation for Microsoft's DirectX API, and it's clear that this is just a launching point for Microsoft's development team. "We'll revise DX10," Donahue says. "That's no secret."
This means that over the next five or six years of Windows' current incarnation, gamers will play games on an ever-evolving platform that will maximize the use of PC hardware. This is a far cry from the finite fixed world of console gaming on the PS3 and Xbox 360. For many gamers, this constant improvement -- and the tremendous amounts of power this evolution unlocks -- is the very reason we play PC games in the first place.
"If you look to the graphics hardware guys, they're not even close to being finished with graphics processing power," Donahue explains. "On a regular basis, we get together with these guys as well as game developers and publishers to talk about where we want [Windows gaming and DirectX] to go three to five years down the road. We then begin to map out how we're going to get there."

The Bottom Line
It is clear that over the long run, Windows Vista won't just be good for gaming -- it will be great for gaming. The presence of DirectX 10, when combined with DirectX 10-compatible video cards, will result in unprecedented levels of visual quality and will immediately outperform the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360.
However, we're still approximately six months away from enjoying these DirectX 10 riches, which makes upgrading to Windows Vista strictly for the gaming experience a fairly useless endeavor right now. The chance of losing compatibility with your favorite games just isn't worth it. There's only one real reason to go Vista in the short-term for gaming: the May 2007 release of Halo 2 for Vista.
But when autumn arrives and DX10 games start rolling onto store shelves, you won't be able to call yourself a PC gamer without upgrading. Just make sure to budget for that $500 DX10 3D graphics card as well.



Source:Is Vista Good for Gaming?