After January 14, 2020, Microsoft won’t deliver security patches for free to Windows 7, so if you’re still using the operating system at that point, you may be more exposed to new security risks. Microsoft previously announced that it will end consumer support for Windows 7 in 2020. Though the addition of DirectX 12 support to Windows 7 will benefit gamers on the operating system, gamers on the platform will want to explore upgrade paths to Windows 10 in the future. Unfortunately, this means that DirectX support won’t be widely available to all titles running on Windows 7, but Microsoft claimed that it is working with “a few other game developers” to expand DirectX 12 support on the platform. According to Nvidia, Windows 7 users will just need the company’s current Game Ready Driver to run the game, AnandTech reported. Additionally, the patch also delivers a number of new game enhancements, including new quests and more adventures. To take advantage of DirectX 12 support, World of Warcraft: Battle of Azeroth users will need to download game patch 8.1.5. “Windows 10 has critical OS improvements which make modern low-level graphics APIs (including DirectX 12) run more efficiently,” Microsoft said. Microsoft still cautioned that performance will be better on Windows 10 than the older Windows 7, as the former has more operating system level optimizations.

The move was made after evaluating customer feedback, the blog post continued, and World of Warcraft will be the first title to benefit from the performance boost that DirectX 12 offers, including an increase in frame rate for even smoother gameplay.

Directx 12 for windows 7 download