What Is The Platform Update For Windows 7

Edit: This is at present in effect for version 4.1. In that location was no 4.0.22 release — information technology was renamed to 4.i.

I wanted to requite a heads upwardly that the next update for Pigment.NET, version 4.0.22, will require that Windows 7 users have something called the "Platform Update" installed. Subsequently versions of Windows, meaning 8.i and 10, practise not need this considering they already accept what it includes.

If y'all're using Windows 7 then you lot probably already accept this installed and I wouldn't worry about it; Windows Update should have taken care of that a long, long time ago. KB2670838, equally it's called in some circles, is over five years one-time at this indicate Smile This volition be more relevant to folks who are setting upwardly new installations of Windows 7, and is especially important for sequencing of auto-install or deployment scripts, because the Paint.Net installer volition not handle the installation of this dependency.

Equally usual, whenever I add a dependency on a newer Os or .Internet or anything, I get people pulling their pilus out and asking me "why?!" (okay maybe I'g exaggerating)

In this instance, the Platform Update includes significantly updated versions of Direct2D, Direct3D, DirectWrite, Windows Imaging Component (WIC), Windows Advanced Rasterization Platform (WARP), and Windows Animation Manager. Paint.Net uses all of these, and peculiarly the Direct2D v1.one update brings a lot of new features that will be very benign.

I of the projects I'grand working on is to utilise the GPU much more aggressively in Paint.NET. Right at present the GPU is generally simply used to blit the canvas and describe decorations on top of it. I'd like to go further, starting with the use of Direct2D v1.1's event system for, well, effects.

I've got a prototype up and running that surfaces a few of Direct2D's congenital-in effects every bit Paint.Cyberspace effects and the performance is very promising, even when using WARP (software rendering). It too appears to automatically work with SLI, although I yet need to practice some benchmarking to ostend any actual performance increase.

If this works out well and so you can expect more use of the GPU throughout Paint.Net as updates trickle out over fourth dimension.

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If you don't want to get through Windows Update, or if you're preparing car-install or deployment stuff, then here'south where to download it: https://www.microsoft.com/download/details.aspx?id=36805

More information about the Platform Update for Windows seven can be found hither: https://back up.microsoft.com/aid/2670838/platform-update-for-windows-vii-sp1-and-windows-server-2008-r2-sp1

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P.S. I just realized it'southward April 1st … this it not an Apr fool'south joke Smile