Download Direct X 11 for Windows 7 or Vista

You might know Microsoft has evolved a long way in improving their new OS Windows 7 by coming up with new builds and loads of changes embedded with it.Microsoft has also brought new changes in field of Direct X era to implement latest graphic card features for a wide variety of Hi-end games and Digitalized features.

After making DirectX 10 available for Windows Vista,now Microsoft has been working on getting DirectX 11 with Direct 3D 11 to existence.Earlier I had blogged that Win Xp users can make use of Warp 10 3d to make use of DirectX10 effects using a DirectX 9 based graphic card as Direct X 11 is not available for Xp Users.What is DirectX 11 ? DirectX 11 is the a collection of APIs (application programming interfaces) for handling tasks related to graphics and multimedia, especially in game and video, on Windows and Microsoft platforms. Examples of DirectX API includes Direct3D, DirectDraw, DirectWrite, Direct2D, DirectMusic, DirectPlay, DirectCompute and DirectSound.

DirectX runtime is essential component of Windows which allows software application to take advantage of the enhanced and latest technology in graphic processing unit (GPU) like the  58XX series from ATI. DirectX 11 is incorporated and bundled in Windows 7 so you don’t need to do anything with this.But Vista is DirectX 10 so update your Vista with the DirectX 11 by performing a Platform update given below.

DirectX 11 features DirectCompute for GPGPU hardware accelerate parallel computing scenarios support, hardware tessellation support, hardware acceleration for 2D, 3D and text-based scenarios support, and improved multi-threading support to better utilize multi-core processors. DirectX 11 also adds XPS Library for document printing scenarios.

Direct X 11 also has full backward-compatibility with DirectX 9, DirectX 9Ex, DirectX 10 and DirectX 10.1, where multi-threaded resource handling can be supported on Direct3D 9/10/10.1-class hardware.DirectX 11 is released via Windows Graphics, Imaging, and XPS Library KB971512 update for Windows Vista SP2. The easiest way to upgrade and install DirectX 11 is through Windows Update, but the standalone setup installers for KB971512 are also available for free download via Microsoft Download Center.Links are given below.

Windows 7/Direct 3D 11 Technical preview is a part of DirectX SDK and mainly contains a preview of Direct2D, DirectWrite, DXGI 1.1.Most important is that its available in DirectX End-user Runtimes.Currently Windows 7/Direct3D 11 (DirectX 11) is supported only on Windows 7 and now can be made on Windows Vista via Windows update

Download DirectX 11 for Windows7/Vista (SDK) – 514.2MB

Download DirectX 11 for Windows7/Vista(Web Installer)

Download DirectX 11 for Windows 7/Vista August 2009

Download DirectX 11 End User Runtimes update – Feb 2010

Download Windows Graphics, Imaging, and XPS Library (with DirectX 11) KB971512 Update – to get Direct X 11

KB971512 for Windows Vista, x86-based versions: Windows6.0-KB971512-x86.msu

KB971512 for Windows Vista, x64-based versions: Windows6.0-KB971512-x64.msu

The Platform Update for Windows Vista (KB971644) also contains update and enhancement to the following technologies, all of which can be installed via Windows Update and has standalone update package available for download on Microsoft Download Center (available via KB links):

• Windows Automation API (KB971513) – enables accessibility tools and test automations to access the Windows user interface in a smooth way across operating system versions.
• Windows Portable Devices Platform (KB971514) – supplies the infrastructure to standardize data transfers between an application and a portable device, such as a mobile phone, a digital camera, or a portable media player.
• Windows Ribbon and Animation Manager Library (KB960362) – contains the following features of Windows Ribbon API, a command framework that enables developers to quickly and easily create rich ribbon experiences in their applications, and Windows Animation Manager API, an animation framework for managing the scheduling and execution of user interface element animations.

Thanks to MDL for update links

Update

Microsoft has released a new updated version for the DirectX 11 (I have updated to latest version of Direct X 11 with addition of Bing bar see above images) which has now been made available for download, just before the start of a new year. Microsoft Download Center was seen flashy as it displayed a brand new version of DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer which provides updates to 9.0 as well as previous versions of DirectX.Normally we would see update in form of a collection but this time it’s offered as the DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer.

Here is the quote

The DirectX end-user installation includes the D3DX, HLSL Compiler, XInput, XAudio, and Managed DirectX 1.1 components. Note that the DirectX Runtime (Direct3D, DirectInput, DirectSound) is not part of this package as it is included as part of the Windows operating system, and therefore cannot be installed or uninstalled. Updating the DirectX Runtime is achieved by installing the latest Service Pack or obtaining a newer version of Windows.

The DirectX End-User Runtime Installer does not bring Windows 7 DirectX 11 to older operating systems. Users running Windows XP would continue to share privilege at DirectX 9 level. Direct X 11 would be available to users who have upgraded their operating systems with Windows Vista Service Pack 2.Users who are running Vista as their primary OS would need to download and install the “Platform Update for Windows Server 2008 and the Platform Update for Windows Vista.

Download DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer update

Update:

DirectX 11 Technology Update

DirectX_11_Technology_Update_US.zip