Windows 7 Game Explorer should inform you about game patches

First introduced in Windows Vista, the Game Explorer returns in Windows 7 with some new features. One is being able to get a description of the game (if provided by the publisher) in addition to things like the name of the game, the developer and the publisher. The parental controls in Vista are back in Windows 7 for your games which means you can keep your kids from playing the "M" rated game titles on your hard drive or limit the time they can play games on your PC.

The biggest new features in the Windows 7 Game Explorer is that it can check on the web to see if there are any patches or updates that can be downloaded for your games. You will then have the option to install those patches. It's not an automatic process (a la Steam) but at least it will give gamers more info when new patches are available.

Multi-touch PC games may be the next big thing with Windows 7

Microsoft is really pushing the idea of multi-touch displays as a new native feature for Windows 7. While it's cool to be able to just touch a menu and move things around on your monitor, could it also be a huge new feature for games? Microsoft seems to think so.

In a recent chat with our sister site Joystiq, a rep from Microsoft indicated they were looking to show off the multi-touch features via PC games. We can certainly see things like touching a unit on the screen in an RTS game and then touching where that unit should go on the map. If game developers use the technology well Windows 7 could bring this type of feature into more game titles.

Don't expect a lot of DirectX11 titles at first

The launch of Windows 7 also brings the launch of DirectX11, the next version of Microsoft's 3D graphics API. (Vista will also support DirectX11 but so far there's no word on when an update to the OS will happen). You can expect even more realistic looking games with more special effects to come from DirectX11 titles. However, gamers shouldn't expect DirectX11 games to be flooding the market overnight.

At the moment there is only one official DirectX11 game out there; the free-to-play RTS game BattleForge (via a recent patch). More games are expected to be released in the coming months including Dirt 2 (due this December) and Aliens vs Predator (due out in the first quarter of 2010). Even if you have Windows 7 and the DirectX11 supported game you still need a DirectX11-supported video card to see the new effects. At the moment, AMD is the only manufacturer of such cards via the ATI Radeon 5800 series. Don't expect a DirectX11-supported card from its main rival Nvidia until sometime in 2010.

If you really want a DirectX11-based PC rig you can go ahead and order one right now. Just don't look for a lot of DirectX11-supported PC games for some time.
Windows 7's free games are all online multiplayer enabled

The days of playing Solitaire or Minesweeper at your work desk all by yourself are over. Now you can reduce work productivity even more with Windows 7's free games that come with the new OS. As their titles imply, the games (Internet Backgammon, Internet Checkers and Internet Spades) all have online multiplayer features.

You will not only be able to play up to three other online human players in these games but a computer AI will come in and replace a player if he or she drops out for some reason. There will even be stats about the games you play without telling your boss you play them at work. Shame on you (but we bet your boss will play them too). In short, the free games in Windows 7 are a far cry from what we have seen in the past.

Conclusion

There's no doubt that PC gamers will want to make the upgrade to Windows 7 and we suspect that switch will happen pretty quickly compared to the movie from XP to Vista. While there will likely always be issues it's looking like the latest Windows entry will be a must have for PC gamers in the months ahead.