Now more than three years after promising, and some say failing, to deliver a PC gaming renaissance with the Vista operating system, Microsoft is set to roll out Windows 7.

But this time there are no apologies or promises. PC gaming, it seems, has taken a back seat.

When Windows 7 goes on sale on Oct. 22, PC gamers will have little reason to run out to buy it, says Matthew Murray, managing editor of ExtremeTech.

“I don’t think there’s a lot about (Windows 7) that’s going to make it that much more compelling to gamers than Vista,” Murray said. “It’s a bit better using memory, and it’s a bit faster in certain areas, but the performance overall isn’t really that much different. If you have Vista and you’re happy with it, you can probably keep it, at least for now.”

To be fair, much of that promised renaissance in 2006 was tied to the Games for Windows initiative, which launched alongside the Windows Vista operating system.

While the two hit at the same time, they’re not directly connected.

The biggest idea behind Games for Windows was to make it easier to play games on your PC. This was done by creating a set of criteria that computer games needed to meet to have the Games For Windows label on their box.

Those criteria included compatibility, easy installation and including parental controls. There were also a number of neat ideas tested out, but never fully realised. Most computer games require an installation before playing, but the Tray and Play option was meant to allow gamers to pop a game in their computer and start playing almost immediately, similar to what most console gamers experience now. Unfortunately, only one game, Halo 2 for the PC, currently uses this system.

The most noticeable way in which Vista and Games for Windows crossed over was the operating system’s Game Advisor and Games Explorer.

The Game Advisor ranks a person’s computer and available games making it easier to tell if a title would play on a PC.

The Games Explorer was meant to collect all the games installed on a computer and display them in one folder. It’s here that Window 7 does bring a modicum of improvement for gamers.

One of the biggest issues with Games Explorer was that it often didn’t detect games that were purchases through online retailers and providers like Steam.

While Windows 7 still doesn’t seem to include Steam in the Game Explorer, it now has the ability to if the company wants to support the service. If a game provider does choose to be listed in the Game Explorer, computer owners will be able to view news from the service and information about the service’s games, all inside the window.

Another update to Games Explorer allows you to be notified when a game you own has an update or patch and then install the update from the explorer without having to launch the game.

Finally, Games Explorer will track statistics for the games you play, showing you how many times you’ve played, how long and your win and loss ratio.

Currently only the included games seem to support this function, but I’m sure more will include it after the operating system officially launches.

Murray says the only improvement he can find in Windows 7 for gamers is in the Games Explorer, but even he doesn’t find it that useful.

“Being able to check for updates for all your games in one interface is a nice feature, but since it doesn’t install the updates automatically (the way Windows Update itself) does, I don’t know how useful that’s going to be to a lot of people,” he said. “And I’ve never gotten that into using the Games Explorer anyway—I tend to just add icons to the new taskbar, as with everything else. Aside from that, there aren’t a ton of game-friendly changes I’ve come across.”

The problem I have with Windows 7, though, isn’t its failure to vastly improve the gaming experience, it’s Microsoft’s failure to take advantage of the attention brought by the launch of a new operating system to once more thrust PC gaming into the spotlight.

The biggest promise the Games for Windows initiative made when it initially was unveiled was that it would be backed by a huge marketing campaign, one similar to the push Microsoft gave the Xbox 360 when it hit.

But that was never fully realised and PC gaming was left to suffer as a second favourite system next to the Xbox 360 and Microsoft’s continued marketing blitz for its gaming console.

In the vacuum left by Microsoft game developers, chip manufacturers and PC builders have come together to try and reinvigorate PC gaming though the PC Gaming Alliance. But even this effort seems oddly absent during Window’s big week?

If Microsoft want its PC gaming platform to thrive they will need to do more than offer lip service in the future. But with the lasting success of the gaming console and PC gamers’ ability to seemingly put up with anything, why should they?

Microsoft declined to comment for this article.

Well Played is a weekly news and opinion column about the big stories of the week in the gaming industry and its bigger impact on things to come. Feel free to join in the discussion.

Stormrise, a new RTS from Creative Assembly, is coming to consoles. No problems there. But it’s also coming to the PC, and when it does, you better hope you’re not still rocking Windows XP.

Why? Because the game will only run under DirectX 10, which will only run under Windows Vista. Lead designer Artem Kulakov explains:

DX10 has offered a lot of advantages over DX9. First of all, DirectX 10 allowed us to simplify the rendering engine. It matches capabilities of next generation consoles better than DX9, which is important for us considering that Stormrise is a multi-platform title. We had fewer driver-specific compatibility issues with Stormrise compare to our previous games released with DX9.

Of course, it won’t officially run under XP. We’re sure someone will find a workaround. Provided, that is, those kind of people aren’t too busy playing that other Creative Assembly strategy game that came out this week…

On the subject, how many of you are still soldiering on with XP as we roll into 2009, over seven years since the OS was first released?

Stormrise first DX10 only game – Interview with Lead Designer [PC Games Hardware]

,p>Do not fear Windows 7. Sure, the tests might show that Windows XP performs better, but Microsoft assures us all that the next version of their operation system will be “great for games”.

So says Microsoft’s VP of the Interactive Entertainment Business for the EMEA region, Chris Lewis, speaking to GamesIndustry.biz about the future of PC gaming.

“Windows 7 will be great for games, undoubtedly,” he said. “It’s all good news – it’s even more robust, it’s quicker relatively, and the early testing cycles are proving very promising overall.

“I think it’ll be nothing but good news for PC gamers, but we’ll have more to say on that later on this year”

Great news for nervous gamers everywhere, until you think about it. I mean, they wouldn’t come out and say it wasn’t good for games, would they?

Personally I’ve had few problems with things running in the beta version of Windows 7. I do miss Vista, if only because on Windows Vista you knew where you stood – hip-deep in mud. Yes, we’ll call it mud, for the sake of the children.

Windows 7 will be “great for games” [GamesIndustry.biz]

Windows 7 is out and up for download, provided you’re OK with using a beta operating system. It promises a raft of improvements over Windows Vista, but how’s it shaping up for games?

FiringSquad have taken a look at how it runs across two systems: a mid-spec one (AMD Athlon X2 5000+ Black Edition) and a high-end machine (Intel Core i7 965 Extreme Edition). While the results are worth a look at, it’s worth remembering, remembering then remembering again that Windows 7 is still in beta. So there’s room for improvement.

Anyway, that caveat out of the way, above are some of the results more relevant to you, the game-playing public.

More detailed break-downs – including Crysis at DirectX 10 – below.

Windows 7 Beta Gaming Performance: XP vs Vista vs 7 [FiringSquad, via Evil Avatar]

Will the upcoming new version of Windows be yet another Vista for PC gamers to worry about, or will Windows 7 be a boon for the mouse and keyboard set? TechRadar takes a look.

When I first upgraded to Windows Vista, I wasn’t just disappointed. I was depressed. It looked lovely, had all these new bells and whistles, but bells and whistles take up memory, slowing things down to a crawl. Well TechRadar UK’s article on Windows 7 has me feeling a great deal better.

Windows 7 is essentially what Windows Vista should have been. They’ve taken the same OS and streamlined it, making it much more efficient memory-wise. Essentially what this means is you wind up with more free memory and an OS where all the bugs that plagued Windows Vista’s launch as far as 3D performance goes are already ironed out. It’s like getting a memory upgrade and a lovely new interface.

I’ve yet to try Windows 7 myself, having been understandably worried about screwing up the grudging agreement my PC has reached with Vista at this point, but after reading TechRadar’s thoughts I’m feeling a bit more confident. Should I take the plunge?

Windows 7 – what it means for gamers [TechRadar UK - Thanks Sensai-N]

In another case of “Because it’s there”, some brave/misguided soul has gone to great lengths to get Windows Vista running on a PlayStation 3. How? Emulated via Linux, of course. That translates to blazing speeds, making the Microsoft OS boot in a mere 25 minutes. Notepad opens in just 12!! If you’re interested in the techniques required to get Vista on your PS3, PS3HaX has a handy tutorial. Just think — you could be playing Minesweeper in just a few days, at single digit speed percentages! Impress your friends!

Vista running on PS3 & more BD-J homebrew [ via Gizmodo]

Games for Windows – Live multiplayer features are free, effective today, Microsoft announced at today’s GameFest 2008 conference in Seattle.

The move to free means that achievements, enhanced “truskill” matchmaking, cross-platform play with the Xbox 360, voice and text chat, friends lists, are all now free to Windows gamers. This change to free is for all Games for Windows LIVE titles, past and future.

Microsoft also announced plans to introduce Games for Windows – Live marketplace this fall, which will include free and paid downloadable game content, demos, trailers and “more”. Finally, the company said they are working to streamline the interface for the PC and reduce technical requirements for developers. Too little, too late? Too early to tell, I say.

In other news from GameFest, DirectX 11 was unveiled.

The company calls DirectX 11 a “big step forward for gaming, adding features onto existing DirectX 10″.

Key components of DirectX 11, will include:

o Full support (including all DX11 hardware features) on Windows Vista as well as future versions of Windows
o Compatibility with DirectX 10 and 10.1 hardware, as well as support for new DirectX 11 hardware
o New compute shader technology that lays the groundwork for the GPU to be used for more than just 3D graphics, so that developers can take advantage of the graphics card as a parallel processor
o Multi-threaded resource handling that will allow games to better take advantage of multi-core machines
o Support for tessellation, which blurs the line between super high quality pre-rendered scenes and scenes rendered in real-time, allowing game developers to refine models to be smoother and more attractive when seen up close.

Gaming Performance: Windows Vista SP1 vs. XP SP3 [ExtremeTech]

vmcNetFlix [vmcNetFlix, via Gizmodo AU]