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DirectML version history

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DirectML is distributed as a system component of Windows, and is available as part of the Windows operating system (OS) in Windows 10, version 1903 (10.0; Build 18362) and newer.

Starting with DirectML version 1.4.0, DirectML is also available as a standalone redistributable package (see Microsoft.AI.DirectML), which is useful for applications that wish to use a fixed version of DirectML, or when running on older versions of Windows 10.

DirectML follows the semantic versioning conventions. That is, version numbers follow the form major.minor.patch. The first release of DirectML has a version of 1.0.0.

Version table

DirectML version Feature level supported (see DirectML feature level history) DML_TARGET_VERSION First available in (OS) First available in (Redistributable)
1.13.0 DML_FEATURE_LEVEL_6_2 0x6200 N/A DirectML-1.13.0
1.12.0 DML_FEATURE_LEVEL_6_1 0x6100 N/A DirectML-1.12.0
1.11.0 DML_FEATURE_LEVEL_6_0 0x6000 N/A DirectML-1.11.0
1.10.0 DML_FEATURE_LEVEL_5_2 0x5200 N/A DirectML-1.10.0
1.9.0 DML_FEATURE_LEVEL_5_1 0x5100 N/A DirectML-1.9.0
1.8.0 DML_FEATURE_LEVEL_5_0 0x5000 Windows 11 (Build 10.0.22621; 22H2) DirectML-1.8.0
1.7.0 DML_FEATURE_LEVEL_4_1 0x4100 N/A DirectML-1.7.0
1.6.0 DML_FEATURE_LEVEL_4_0 0x4000 Windows 11 (Build 10.0.22000; 21H2) DirectML-1.6.0
1.5.0 DML_FEATURE_LEVEL_3_1 0x3100 N/A DirectML-1.5.0
1.4.01 DML_FEATURE_LEVEL_3_0 0x3000 N/A DirectML-1.4.0
1.1.0 DML_FEATURE_LEVEL_2_0 0x2000 Windows 10, version 2004 (10.0; Build 19041) (Windows 10 May 2020 Update). Aka "20H1". N/A
1.0.0 DML_FEATURE_LEVEL_1_0 0x1000 Windows 10, version 1903 (10.0; Build 18362) (Windows 10 May 2019 Update). Aka "19H1". N/A

1 The 1.2.0 and 1.3.0 intermediate releases of DirectML weren't made widely available.

Selecting a DirectML target version

For convenience, certain features in the DirectML.h header file are declared conditionally based on the value of the DML_TARGET_VERSION macro. By setting the DML_TARGET_VERSION macro to certain values, you can exclude parts of DirectML.h from your application.

That can be helpful if you're using a newer copy of DirectML.h, but you're targeting a lower version of the DirectML binary, because it ensures that any attempt to use features beyond the chosen target level won't compile. This mechanism is similar to the NTDDI_VERSION macro (see Macros for conditional declarations).

Here are the valid values for the DML_TARGET_VERSION macro.

DML_TARGET_VERSION Effect
0x6200 Any features that require a version of DirectML newer than 1.13.0 are excluded from DirectML.h.
0x6100 Any features that require a version of DirectML newer than 1.12.0 are excluded from DirectML.h.
0x6000 Any features that require a version of DirectML newer than 1.11.0 are excluded from DirectML.h.
0x5200 Any features that require a version of DirectML newer than 1.10.0 are excluded from DirectML.h.
0x5100 Any features that require a version of DirectML newer than 1.9.0 are excluded from DirectML.h.
0x5000 Any features that require a version of DirectML newer than 1.8.0 are excluded from DirectML.h.
0x4100 Any features that require a version of DirectML newer than 1.7.0 are excluded from DirectML.h.
0x4000 Any features that require a version of DirectML newer than 1.6.0 are excluded from DirectML.h.
0x3100 Any features that require a version of DirectML newer than 1.5.0 are excluded from DirectML.h.
0x3000 Any features that require a version of DirectML newer than 1.4.0 are excluded from DirectML.h.
0x2000 Any features that require a version of DirectML newer than 1.1.0 are excluded from DirectML.h.
0x1000 Any features that require a version of DirectML newer than 1.0.0 are excluded from DirectML.h.
Not set The target version is selected automatically for you. See below for details.

If DML_TARGET_VERSION is not set, then it is selected automatically by the following.

  • If the DML_TARGET_VERSION_USE_LATEST macro is defined, then the latest target version is selected.
  • Otherwise, the target version is selected based on the value of the NTDDI_VERSION macro.
    • NTDDI_WIN10_ZN results in a target version of 0x6000.
    • NTDDI_WIN10_NI results in a target version of 0x5000.
    • NTDDI_WIN10_CO results in a target version of 0x4000.
    • NTDDI_WIN10_FE results in a target version of 0x3000.
    • NTDDI_WIN10_VB results in a target version of 0x2000.
    • NTDDI_WIN10_19H1 results in a target version of 0x1000.
    • If NTDDI_VERSION is not defined, then the latest target version is selected (as if DML_TARGET_VERSION_USE_LATEST were specified).

Example

Consider an application using version 10.0.19041.0 (Windows 10, version 2004) of the Windows Software Development Kit (SDK). From the table above, the version of DirectML that this corresponds to is 1.1.0, and the corresponding DML_TARGET_VERSION is 0x2000.

If you don't set either the DML_TARGET_VERSION nor the NTDDI_VERSION macros, then the selected target version will default to 0x2000, and everything in DirectML.h will be available for use.

If you want your application to be able to run on Windows 10, version 1903 (10.0; Build 18362), then you could #define DML_TARGET_VERSION 0x1000, which will exclude all content in DirectML.h that isn't supported by DirectML version 1.0.0. This ensures that any attempt to use functionality that requires a greater version will fail to compile.

DirectML version versus feature level

The DirectML version (for example, 1.0.0, or 1.4.0) describes a particular release of DirectML, including its associated DirectML.h header file and .lib file.

The feature level (for example, DML_FEATURE_LEVEL_1_0, or DML_FEATURE_LEVEL_2_0) describes the capability of the underlying implementation of the API, which can vary from the version of DirectML.h used.

For example, an application building against a newer SDK, but running on an older version of Windows, might (at runtime) see a lower supported feature level, even if it's compiled against the latest SDK.

See also