Microsoft rolls out the ‘2022 Update’ for Windows 11

pcinvasion.com:

Microsoft has made  a major new update for Windows 11 available. Despite it releasing nine months into the year, the company has opted to refer to it as the2022 Update.

This major new update for the year-old OS brings with it some quality-of-life improvements that enhance accessibility, productivity, gaming and more.

Let’s start with the gaming enhancements. Performance optimizations have been made to the OS in order “to improve latency and unlock features like Auto HDR and Variable Refresh Rate in windowed games.” Windows 11 users with higher-end monitors will particularly benefit from these specific improvements.

In terms of more general gaming improvements, all Windows 11 users can now use the new Xbox Game Bar, which now has a Controller bar view. Accessed by pressing the Xbox button on your controller, you can quickly see recently played titles and game launchers. Additional enhancements have also been made to DirectX 12 Ultimate and DirectStorage, with the latter receiving “support across more storage configurations, including RAID 0.”

Credit: Microsoft

Microsoft Edge even gets to join in on the list of gaming enhancements.

While most of the work here was already implemented over the summer, Microsoft has used this new update to heavily suggest that cloud gamers make use of Edge as their go-to browser. The reason being that it makes “gameplay from the cloud look sharper and clearer” due to a new Clarity Boost mode. Edge also has an Efficiency mode that Microsoft claims to “improve gaming performance” when you play a PC title natively. Players can also benefit from the new Gaming homepage that will “help [them] discover and engage with their favorite games, and the new Games menu enables one-click access to free