Alright, I have a mixed up view on directcompute (i assume it also has been referred as directX compute by some) and window 7. I was under the impression that it was part of the DX11 package. But I heard directcompute was gonna be a windows 7 only function, but vista also has dx11 so it should also have directcompute as well. Should it not?

Also I heard that nvidia supports direct compute via cuda in both vista and windows 7 on any of their DX10 as well as future dX11 cards. So is ATI supporting DXcompute only with their DX11 cards? This was my belief before but i need conformation. I also still assume that since vista is DX11 it should support any apps that run dxcompute, is this correct?

I heard that the windows7's native media player and has a compiler that uses Directcompute out of the box. Is that the only difference between it and vista, or is that the discrepancy? Will third party programs be able to use DXcompute in Vista and it just doesnt have built in programs?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DirectCompute

but articles like these and many more say you must have windows 7

http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/partner/a...tep-closer.aspx
that one says you must upgrade from vista to 7 for directcompute features

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?opti...4&Itemid=47

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/windows_7_directx_11

all on windows 7, nothing on vista. The list can go on and on. Is this just marketing hype? So their is no difference in what 7 brings compared to vista in the way of DX compute? I have seen very little about dxcompute in vista, but i have heard many times dx 11 was vista and 7. I would assume them to be all in the same, so why is there article after article praising dx compute in windows 7 not speaking a word of vista? Thats why i questioned maybe 7 has M$ programs built in for 7 that use dx compute and those programs are exclusive and this could be the discrepancy.

I dont know why directcompute is such a major selling point for you. 7 is better than vista overall, and well worth the upgrade. and you will be sure to have the newest directcompute

"Microsoft DirectCompute is an application programming interface (API) that takes advantage of the massively parallel processing power of a modern graphics processing unit (GPU) to accelerate PC application performance in Microsoft Windows Vista or Windows 7. DirectCompute is part of the Microsoft DirectX collection of APIs. Other DirectX APIs include Direct3D, Direct2D, DirectWrite, DirectDraw, DirectMusic, DirectPlay, and DirectSound.

DirectCompute will initially be released with the DirectX 11 API but runs on both DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 graphics processing units (GPUs)."

Its not, not to me. I just see way too many articles promoting 7 with dxcompute and not saying a whisper of vista. i was interested in the reasoning. Is it all a marketing ploy? I already know that vista gets dx11 and some kinda dxcompute but if they are exactly the same then i dont see it as a selling point. So i started wondering anf thought i would ask what anyone knows.

I also know that windows7 has some of its media player decoding done on the GPU when that is available, is that not possible on vista? is that the reason for trying to use dxcompute as a selling point for windows7? Is it their more native app support included in 7 that vista doesnt have? Its probably a dumb question, but it caught me attention and it stood out to me. I figured some ppl who use 7 may know more thats all.

As far as windows 7 being better then vista now, i can't see a huge difference, not on a good system they really are rather close. It performs slightly better at times, it does use power more efficiently over all but other then visual looks and the aspects related (the more mac like feel) I cant say its too much better. Windows 7 has got many more things going for it at launch then vista, and there arent any kinks like vista had. It appears to be a solid OS, but i would say the same about vista these days. Here is an article with direct comparisons, if you look through the entire comparison you will see an ever so slight advantage. But i can say its better than vista overall, even if its only slightly.

Did you even read my post?

Vista gets the new DirectX features as well.

You're right though, performance on a good system is hardly better, but the difference is noticeable on lower end systems. Think Atom and Athlon Neo.

The new taskbar is just awesome