If, like us, you're one of those that have been clinging on to Windows 7 in the face of Microsoft's best efforts to move you up to Windows 8, then the following news will be of great interest to you.
DirectX 12 is set to boost gaming performance thanks to reduced power consumption and CPU overhead, and with better support for multithreading. It's going to be built into the forthcoming Windows 10, and it'll work with Windows 8 too. It won't, on the other hand, be compatible with Windows 7.
The news comes via AMD's chief gaming scientist (what a fantastic job title), Richard Huddy, who while speaking at a PDXLAN presentation earlier this month, confirmed that although Windows 7 is a "very, very popular operating system... DX12 is not coming to Windows 7".
According to Huddy (the video has since been made private), roughly 52% of all Microsoft's OS users still roll with Windows 7, which is obviously something the company would like to change with Windows 10 on the way.
If Microsoft can deliver significantly faster gaming with their new operating system, we're sure that there's plenty of people out there who won't mind upgrading.
Thanks, PC Gamer.