Windows 10's new update adds DirectX 12 Ultimate

There's a new Windows 10 update out, which instils a tiny bit of fear into me because these updates tend to break at least one random piece of software on my PC. But, there are at least a few things to look forward to. Windows are rolling out the new DirectX 12 Ultimate, which will should help some of those lovely video games have nicer graphics. There's also a bunch of accessibility changes being introduced, and those quirky lil' kaomojis are now much easier to use ♪(^∇^*).

If you're a little unsure of what DirectX 12 Ultimate is (I know I was), I'll leave it to RPS's all-star hardware editor Katherine Castle to explain:

"In short, DirectX 12 Ultimate should make it a lot easier for developers to implement advanced graphics features in their upcoming games. Ray tracing (the fancy realistic light and shadow tech so beloved by Nvidia’s RTX cards at the moment) and variable rate shading (the ability to simulate certain chunks of the environment that don’t require so much detail as other parts of a scene to help boost performance) were already part of the original DirectX 12 protocol, but DirectX 12 Ultimate improves on these even further."

Essentially, games need to be made with DX 12 Ultimate in mind to be able to use it, it won't just automatically change games you already have. But, it should make ray tracing a bit more commonplace going forward, and it's worth noting that you don't need to upgrade any hardware to make use of it. Microsoft can help you out if you're look for a deeper techy explanation.

As for those accessibility options, you can now have a chunkier cursor to help find it on your screen easier, and there are some improvements to the built in screen reader Narrator, who'll supposedly read more naturally now. You can find out more about these in Lauren's report from last week.

On top of that, more Kaomojis can now be found in your emoji keyboard. All you gotta do is press your Windows key with the Period key, and you can select from some wonderful little faces, such as: (✿◡‿◡) and (ง •_•)ง, and an old personal favourite of mine, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

There are lots of other bits of note in this Windows 10 update, too, like; the ability to name your desktops and customise the overlay for the Xbox Game Bar, as well as easier ways to pair your Bluetooth devices. Check out the rest of the details over on the Windows blog.

To install the new update, you'll need to head into Windows Settings, select Update & Security, then Check For Updates. After that does its thing, you should see an option to Download And Install it. If you can't download it yet, don't panic, because Microsoft say they're staggering the release for some Windows users.

Oh, and don't forget to watch out for those bugs that might break some of your Windows software. It wouldn't truly be a Windows update without them.