One of the most exciting new gaming features coming to Windows 11 is DirectStorage, but Microsoft has confirmed that this is an exclusive feature. This means that it will not be added as an update to Windows 10. Frankly, I only see it as a problem because even though Windows 11 is a free upgrade from Windows 10, we will have to switch to a "new" operating system.

DirectStorage is a feature designed to take full advantage of the potential power of NVMe SSDs, especially in gaming. It was created not only to speed up loading of compatible games, but also to support the vast, open game worlds that are common in recent titles.

The ability to "load assets onto the graphics card quickly without bogging down the CPU" means that open world games will render "at lightning speed without long load times."

We have been very excited about DirectStorage since it was first announced for the Xbox Series X/S consoles as part of the Velocity architecture, and especially since it was announced as a future Windows feature I have been looking forward to DirectStorage since it was first announced for the Xbox Series X/S consoles as part of the Velocity architecture, and especially since it was announced as a future Windows feature. However, although it supports PCIe 3.0 drives as well as the faster PCIe 4.0 SSDs, we are starting to see caveats added to prevent this feature from being available on gaming PCs. [To get the most out of NVMe SSDs in gaming, you will need to upgrade to Windows 11. The implicit exclusion to the statement that DirectStorage will "only be available in Windows 11" is that Windows 10 is not going to get a compatibility update. It means that it is not going to get a compatibility update.

If Microsoft had not represented Windows 11 as an entirely new version of the OS, it would probably have seemed like a tougher barrier than it otherwise would have been.

Originally, the Sun Valley update, the codename for Windows 10's fall update, was supposed to be the big change this year. On the surface, however, it appears that Microsoft decided that the update was large enough to be referenced as a fully independent operating system, rather than as a feature update to Windows 10.

If it were simply a matter of DirectStorage needing to install the latest Windows 10 update, it would be a perfectly understandable limitation, but when you are talking about having to switch to a different operating system, it is certainly not right. Nevertheless, it is possible that Microsoft will release a Windows 10 DirectStorage update in the future if there is enough fuss about it.

Another unavoidable barrier is hardware. Microsoft lists the minimum system requirements for Windows 11, both for the software itself and for the key features it provides; for DirectStorage, the following requirements are listed:

"DirectStorage requires the " Standard NVM Express Controller" driver, and a DirectX12 GPU with Shader Model 6.0 support.

Specifically, some reported that a 1TB or larger NVMe SSD is required, but this may be different from the current situation, as it appears to have been related to a requirement in an earlier version and the list has been changed to remove any mention of capacity.