PC Gamers, Rejoice! Windows 11 To Get An AI-Powered Gaming Boost

Microsoft is developing its own AI upscaling feature for PC games that may be similar to Nvidia's Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) technology.

The word on the street is that the next version of Windows 11, dubbed version 24H2, will boast an impressive array of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered features.

The next version of Windows OS is expected to come with a more advanced Copilot that can understand context across apps and identify text and images on the screen. The AI-powered assistant can also convert everything you do on your PC into an easy-to-search moment using natural language.

As part of its attempt to improve Copilot integration in Windows 11, Microsoft is reportedly gearing up to introduce smart Copilot actions and animations. The software giant also announced a full-screen mode for Windows Copilot earlier this month. Notably, most of the upcoming AI features are productivity-facing.

Windows 11 is getting an improved colour management feature

Now, X (formerly Twitter) user PhantomOcean3 has discovered the Super Resolution feature inside the latest version (24H2) of Windows 11. According to Microsoft, the automatic super resolution (Auto SR) is a way to "use AI to make supported games play more smoothly with enhanced details".

Moreover, the tipster claims Auto SR will use "an NPU instead of GPU". Likewise, sources told Windows Central's Zac Bowden that Super Resolution will play a key role in offering crisper visuals by improving the framerate in games and upscaling the resolution.

While PCs with dedicated NPU silicon will be able to handle this new AI capability, it is unclear whether PCs without an NPU will be able to take full advantage of Auto SR, which uses clever tech to boost image quality without sacrificing performance.

That sounds like Nvidia's DLSS technology, which can upscale games and improve frame rates and image quality using AI. Other tech companies including AMD and Intel offer their own variants: FSR and XeSS, respectively.

It is worth noting that Microsoft hasn't officially announced this new super resolution feature. So, it is not clear whether it will work or require any specific hardware. Nvidia's DLSS uses the tensor cores that come with its RTX range of graphics cards. AMD's FSR and Intel's XeSS, on the other hand, run on rival GPUs.

The Redmond-based tech giant is also working on an improved colour management feature for Windows 11. This feature will be useful for the new series of OLED monitors that use HDR. Windows OS has been lacking a decent OS-level colour management system for a while now.

As a result, PC gamers have to add custom colour profiles in a dialogue box that doesn't look impressive. However, colour management will soon be integrated into the main display settings area of Windows 11 to allow PC users to set colour profiles for sRGB and DCI-P3.

There's another feature that automatically controls these colour profiles. "Auto color management makes sure your apps and other content have accurate colors on this display," says Microsoft about this colour management feature. It will be interesting to see whether this will let Windows 11 users change gamma curves.

Windows 11 version 24H2: Will your PC make the cut?

Nevertheless, this is a major sign that Microsoft is investing more in HDR support on Windows. However, the next version of Windows 11 will not boot on PCs that were already unsupported by the OS. According to a post by X user Bob Pony, Windows 11 version 24H2 will not boot on CPUs without the POPCNT (population count) instruction.

In other words, PCs that are over 15 years old and weren't officially capable of running Windows 11 before will no longer be able to boot the OS. The next version of Windows 11 now requires a CPU instruction called POPCNT (population count), which became standard on CPUs back in the 2000s.

While PCs with an Intel Core 2 Duo will no longer be able to boot Windows 11, starting with version 24H2, this change will not affect more modern PCs (powered by Intel 7th-Gen or AMD Ryzen 1000 series chips) even if they are unsupported by Windows 11.

The next version of Windows 11 will be based on a new version of the Windows platform called Germanium and could be the first to boast AI features.