Windows 11, Ray Tracing, and DLSS: what’s new at Shadow? (October 2025)
Summer and back-to-school season flew by, and you were probably swamped. In this post, let's catch up on some new things the Shadow teams shipped over the past few months!
Windows 11, now on all Shadow PCs
As of October 14, 2025, Microsoft ended support for Windows 10, which means no new features, no bug fixes, and, most importantly, no more security updates.
Good news: from that date on, all new Shadow PCs ship with Windows 11 out of the box!
Even better, anyone currently running a Shadow PC on Windows 10 can upgrade to Windows 11 for free. For obvious privacy reasons, our teams don’t access customers’ Shadow PCs; we invite affected users to run the upgrade themselves. It only takes a few simple steps and a bit of time. You can check out our dedicated article for the walkthrough!
Windows 11 brings a refreshed interface, better performance in certain games, and full DirectX 12 support. More secure, faster, and built for the long haul—Windows 11 is now a clear upgrade over Windows 10.
Ray Tracing (RTX), for all Shadow plans!
Gamers have no doubt noticed: more and more titles highlight “ray tracing” (often referred to as RTX) and the lifelike lighting effects this tech enables. It’s increasingly common and one of the key breakthroughs behind the stunning realism of the latest generation of games. Because ray tracing is resource-hungry, maintaining high FPS in supported games calls for GPUs with dedicated hardware units.
Another good news: we’ve refreshed all Shadow’s GPUs in recent months, and every Shadow plan now supports ray tracing. No matter which plan you’re on, you can enable ray tracing in the many compatible games and enjoy upgraded visuals!
DLSS, for all users!
As games get more realistic, they also get more demanding, forcing a tough trade-off between maxed-out graphics and smooth gameplay. DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) is NVIDIA’s answer to ease that dilemma. Put simply, it leverages AI accelerators built into compatible NVIDIA GPUs to boost FPS with virtually few or no loss in image quality. In other words: you can crank up a game’s graphics settings and still enjoy higher frame rates.
One last bit of good news: every Shadow plan now supports DLSS! Turn it on in supported games to significantly increase FPS at equivalent image quality, or push visual details further while keeping gameplay just as smooth!
A computer that keeps getting better over time, that’s the Shadow PC promise, too!
