windows-7xaudio2

Does XAudio ship with Windows 7 or not?

I want to develop against a low-level audio API that I can expect to already be on Windows 7.

This link: XAudio2 Versions

says (emphasis mine)

XAudio2 is a cross-platform API that has shipped for use on Xbox 360 as well as versions of Windows, including Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7

But it also says:

XAudio 2.7 and earlier (Windows 7)

All previous versions of XAudio2 for use in apps have been provided as redistributable DLLs in the DirectX SDK.

So which is it? Is it on Windows 7 by default, or do I need to distribute DirectX with my installer? Or, since Windows 7 apparently includes DirectX 11 though I haven't found an official source for that information, perhaps I just need to develop against the legacy DirectX API but won't need to include its distributables?

Solution

  • This is already answered by the rest of the MSDN page:

    XAudio2 version 2.9 ships as part of Windows 10, XAUDIO2_9.DLL, alongside XAudio2.8 to support older applications, and does not require redistribution.

    XAudio2 version 2.8 ships today as a system component in Windows 8, XAUDIO2_8.DLL. It is available “inbox” and does not require redistribution with an app. We recommend to use the Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows 8 to develop against XAudio2; the Windows SDK for Windows 8 contains the necessary header and import library for statically linking against XAUDIO2_8.DLL.

    All previous versions of XAudio2 for use in apps have been provided as redistributable DLLs in the DirectX SDK. The first version of XAudio2, XAudio2 2.0, shipped in the March 2008 release of the DirectX SDK. The last version to ship in the DirectX SDK was XAudio2 2.7, available in the last release of the DirectX SDK in June 2010.

    TL;DR: XAudio is not included with Windows 7. XAudio 2.7 is the last version that supports Windows 7. Use of XAudio 2.7 requires the legacy DirectX SDK and the legacy DirectSetup End-User Runtime Redist package.

    See XAudio2 and Windows 8, The Zombie DirectX SDK and Not So Direct Setup

    UPDATE: There's now a way to use the latest XAudio 2.9 on Windows 7. See Microsoft Docs.