Should I ONLY use shaders below 2.0(4_0_level_9_3) for Metro Apps ?

Question

Since currently devices hardware only support DX9. Which shader model / feature level should I use ? 

---

C++ DX11

Answer 1

It depends on your application. This topic is addressed in a GDC 2012 talk you might want to view.

Developing Metro Style Games on the Full Range of Windows 8 Devices

If you can support Feature Level 9.1 devices and all your shaders are compiled with 4_0_level_9_1 then you can run on all Windows 8 supporting devices. That's a pretty low capability of hardware, but if that's enough for your app them by all means make it work.

If you read the Windows 8 Hardware Certification Requirements you can see that most new desktops with Windows 8 will be offering FL 10.0 or better. Tablet form-factors will by-in-large be FL 9.3 or better.

Answer 2

It depends on your app. You should downgrade gracefully to work on the minimal hardware, but you can take advantage of the newer features if they are available.

--Rob