DirectX 9 Finally Out

T-Kir writes "Microsoft has finally released DirectX 9... although we'll have to wait until the games that fully exploit it are released, at least those with high end cards (aka Radeon 9700+) will be able to unlock more of the advanced features. Now all we have to wait for is OpenGL 2.0!"

Comments

radeon AIW 7500

[Jafafa Hots]

anyone know if my AIW 7500 is compatible?

Re:radeon AIW 7500

[MtViewGuy]

The Radeon 7500 will work under DirectX 9.0, but due to the design of the chipset on the Radeon 7500 the majority of the desireable features of DirectX 9.0 won't be available to your card.

You need a card that takes full advantage of DirectX 9.0; the ATI Radeon 9500/9500Pro (just released) and Radeon 9700/9700 Pro (which has been around for a couple of months) will fully take advantage of DirectX 9.0, especially if you install ATI's CATALYST 3.0 display driver that works with Windows Me, Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

Unfortunately, nVidia's GeForce4 Ti4xxx series chipsets won't take advantage of DirectX 9.0 features; that will have to wait for the GeForce FX that will ship in the first quarter of 2003.

Re:radeon AIW 7500

[sfe_software]

I picked up an AIW 7500 not long ago myself, and was very much disappointed with it's 3D performance. It wasn't much better than the 32 meg Voodoo3 it replaced (4-year old PCI card). I wound up putting the ATI in my Linux media box (MPlayer works nicely with the TV/S-Video outputs).

I believe the problem is that the 7500 doesn't use the Radeon chipset, rather it's a Rage 128 that's been relabeled (that's my understanding -- I could easily be mistaken).

So I finally broke down and got the ti4600, and am extremely happy with it (I run two monitors, so replacing two Voodoo3's with one new card was pretty neat). Of course now my CPU seems just that much slower, not to mention I now have almost as much video RAM as system RAM...

Wow, two releases in one day

[Anonymous Coward]

First FreeBSD 5.0-RC2 and now DirectX 9.0. If I had a FreeBSD box running DirectX I would shit my pants.

Re:Wow, two releases in one day

[Overand]

If you had a FreeBSD box running DirectX, I'd shit your pants too.

Spyware, modified EULAs et al

[Compact Dick]

Are there any bombs in the EULA? Or the latest version of Magic Lantern?

Re:Spyware, modified EULAs et al

[Sheetrock]

If you've been agreeing with them to date you're already OK with the idea that the software could wipe your system and electrocute your dog without setting Microsoft back more than $5, so I don't know what else you want.

As to spyware, it's not exactly like any software house has to be complicit to get it on your system if you use the Internet and download programs. Read here for details.

Re:Spyware, modified EULAs et al

[emptybody]

A properly equipped van parked in your driveway can intercept the broadcast coming from your video tube. They then can record it for future replay at a time and place of their choosing.

Unless you encase your computer room in conductive, charged, chickenwire a'la Faraday.

Re:Spyware, modified EULAs et al

[jafuser]

You had better be using much more than just a faraday cage to protect your comptuer...

Properly tuned and filtered signals from photomultipliers can now reproduce what is on your CRT merely by catching a ray of light emitted from your room.

Time to either move underground, and/or line your walls and windows with aluminum foil =)

Optical Time-Domain Eavesdropping Risks of CRT Displays

This is the reason for Windows's advantage

[tempfile]

Microsoft, with its money and power, is able to deal with hardware manufacturers, to receive specs of planned features early and to develop API for those extremely quickly.

This is the reason why Windows and DirectX will always have a huge advantage over every independent implementation, be it MesaGL or something else. Programmers can be sure that MS will implement every new interesting feature of coming graphics hardware quickly, so that they can make use of it. Therefore, DirectX is the obvious choice.

Re:This is the reason for Windows's advantage

[Blaskowicz]

Microsoft, with its money and power, is able to deal with hardware manufacturers, to receive specs of planned features early and to develop API for those extremely quickly

Hmm... The major Hardware manufacturors (and software developers) are members of the OpenGL ARB :

http://www.opengl.org/developers/about/arb.html

The OpenGL Architecture Review Board (ARB), an independent consortium formed in 1992, governs the OpenGL specification. Composed of many of the industry's leading graphics vendors, the ARB defines conformance tests and approves new OpenGL features and extensions. As of June 2002, voting members of the ARB include 3Dlabs, Apple, ATI, Dell Computer, Evans & Sutherland, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, Matrox, NVIDIA, Microsoft, SGI, Sun. Other companies and organizations are encouraged to join the ARB as non-voting participants by signing the ARB Participant Undertaking (PDF, Word format, Postscript format), so they are covered by participation and disclosure terms similar to the ARB member agreement signed by voting Members. Prospective participants should talk with the OpenGL ARB Secretary (email to arb-secretary 'at' sgi.com) to discuss their reasons for joining and their projected level of committment to the group, and to find out how to submit the Participant Undertaking. Participants may apply for ARB membership when new slots are opened up. A partial list of participants includes Alt.software, Crytek GmbH, Discreet, Empire Interactive, Ensemble Studios, Epic Games, GLSetup, Id Software, Imagination Technologies (PowerVR), Intelligraphics, Micron, NEC, Obsession Development, Quantum3D, RAD Game Tools, Raven Software, S3/Diamond Multimedia, SiS, Spinor GmbH, Tungsten Graphics, University of Central Florida, Verant Interactive, and Xi Graphics.

Re:This is the reason for Windows's advantage

[kasperd]

It is hardly any surprise that Microsoft developers with access to specs support the hardware earlier than opensource developers without access to the specs.

Re:This is the reason for Windows's advantage

[kasperd]

Microsoft can sign NDAs. Open source developers can't.

Maybe we can find a country where a developer can legally ignore the NDA he signed.

Re:This is the reason for Windows's advantage

[entrox]

It's disingenuous to characterize MesaGL as "some people who have a page on Sourceforge".

and

It's the standard on RedHat, which is pretty damn mainstream for anyone running Linux.

Where is the big difference? As a hardware maker I still wouldn't care.

Re:This is the reason for Windows's advantage

[lseltzer]

>>Microsoft can sign NDAs. Open source developers can't.

Says who? When did this rule get invented?

Re:This is the reason for Windows's advantage

[lseltzer]

This is an overly simplistic view of NDAs. I've signed a ton of them and the majority are just to prohibit information release before a certain date. Plenty more would allow you to work on a product, but just not release some details of it.

Re:This is the reason for Windows's advantage

[imroy]

The problem is that there are lots of free implementations - "MesaGL or something else".

Really dan? Show me the "something else". Mesa is practically the OpenGL standard on Linux/BSD and it would take any group many years to create something with all the capabilities of Mesa. I'm not aware of any other Open Source alternatives, and some quick googling doesn't show up anything. I gather that even the recent DRI framework added to Xfree86/Linux used Mesa as a part of its OpenGL rendering.

Sorry dan, but this and the "page on sourceforge" comments are just FUD. You have a point about the situation with hardware manufaturers, but you may be surprised at how organized a lot of Open Source projects are.

Re:This is the reason for Windows's advantage

[jafac]

"(sic) blah blah blah. . .
Therefore, DirectX is the obvious choice."

ooooh, Shiny! I agree!

ATI

[damiam]

Note that ATI has also released its Catalyst 3.0 drivers with full DX9 support for those cards which can handle it. Those demos look sweet.

Re:ATI

[Sandman1971]

It appears Catalyst 3.0 have only been released for the 9500/9700 so far. They have not been released for other versions of ATI cards (IE: 7500 and 8500). FOr these 'older' cards, the latest Catalyst release is still 2.5

Re:ATI

[Sandman1971]

Actually, scratch that. They are, but they are uncertified, whatever that means. I really should drink a cup of coffee before commenting.

Re:ATI

[Wolfier]

"Uncertified" means MS has not certified it in the WHQL "Windows Hardware Quality Lab?".

It means you probably can play with clock settings, more monitor frequency settings, and more manual settings. Good stuffs in general.

I always choose non-WHQL-certified drivers because almost all the time they have more features.

If you do have a Radeon 9700...

[Schik]

Download the latest drivers, then download the demos. They're nothing short of incredible. The Animusic one is spectacular.

Re:Old card support?

[Zeinfeld]

It will support the new cards well, but what about the older cards, ie. Voodoo 3,4 and 5?

You got an expensive doorstop there.

I couldn't get Tombraider Chronicles to run on my Voodoo 3, so I don't think it is very likely you are going to find Direct X 9 support from anywhere. OK you might get something to run, but you can be certain Lara hasn't tested it.

However, if you could afford one of the cutting edge 3dfx cards when they were new you can certainly afford a replacement nvidia board of the same vintage, they have them at frys for $50. OK so they won't run as fast as the latest GForce but neither would the Voodoo.

Incidentally, I discovered that the chronic unreliability problem of my '98 machine went away as soon as I swapped out the voodoo for a GForce...

EULA- can't "Accept"

[pommiekiwifruit]

I love the new microsoft EULA :-) To fix the security bug of the week, e.g. the bugs in MP3 that let anyone take over your machine, you have to download a patch. When I used Windows Update to download the patch you have to accept the EULA. The EULA comes up with the buttons "Don't accept" and "Cancel".

"Accept" is greyed out! While it may be true that a sane person might sometimes query accepting Microsoft's terms, it does seem a bit rich that you can't download the patch even if you do. Also the license includes Javascript and HTML as text. I wonder if this is due to a hypothetical previous patch turning stuff off for safety? Can I be bothered tracking it down at this time of year, when there is such wonderful televi... hmm.

Re:EULA- can't "Accept"

[jon787]

I had the same problem getting the windows .net server release candidates.

Just look at where the form submits to and right your own basic form that will do the same thing, their site doesn't check referrer strings for submitting forms :)

Re:EULA- can't "Accept"

[fraxas]

Some MS licenses from windowsupdate won't let you accept them until the entire license is downloaded (even the parts at the bottom that nobody reads).

Some of them require that you read the whole thing too (i.e. page down to the bottom).

Re:EULA- can't "Accept"

[pommiekiwifruit]

Ah, it works now! Perhaps the power of slashdot was killing the EULA server, as a million DX9 licenses get served :-)

New things in DX9

[MagPulse]

High-level shading language

It has a language very close to Cg but that is integrated with VS.NET, meaning you can debug it just like C code. Here's a newsgroup thread where MS says they are working to keep it close to Cg, but it won't be 100% compatible.

Managed support

If you're programming in C#, Managed C++, or any other managed language, you can now use DirectX 9 directly.

Links

Converting to DirectX 9

DX9 client stand-alone download

DX9 SDK download

Re:New things in DX9

[CaseyB]

Um, they're not "embracing" it if it's incompatible from day one.

Network Setup already bogged down...

[Knunov]

Using the DX9 Network Setup program is already bogged.

Here is a direct link to the redistributable setup file (i.e. the .EXE file)

I'm getting about 100KBps right now. The file is a tad over 30MB. My DL is currently at 99%, so I suppose this is safe to post now :)

Knunov

Re:Network Setup already bogged down...

[pVoid]

Heh, I'm still getting 90KB/s.

Mang they've got big pipes outbound of Redmond.

Re:Network Setup already bogged down...

[Sycraft-fu]

Most of their downloads they host through Conxion (www.conxion.com). Plenty of bandwidth.

Re:Old card support?

[Curien]

You've got it backwards... DirectX doesn't support cars, cards support DirectX (hereafter, "DX"). When we say, "The Radeon 9700 is a DX9 card," what we mean is that the Radeon 9700 can support all of the DX9 features *in hardware* (in the DX HAL ("hardware abstraction layer"). The GeForce4 is a DX8.1 card, meaning that it can support all of the DX8.1 features *in hardware*, but if you install DX9 on your system nothing horrendous will happen. All that will happen is that when a program tries to use DX freatures that your card doesn't support, DX will simply implement those features in software (on the HEL ("hardware emulation layer")), which is slower. But when a game just uses DX8.1 features, it'll still run on the HAL.

So, assuming that there aren't any bugs in the new version of DX, upgrading isn't harmful. And no, the Voodoo 3, 4, and 5 aren't going to support many of the new features in hardware. But that doesn't mean you can't install and play DX9 games -- it just means they'd run like ass.

Is Direct X really better?

[snitty]

As a mac user I have to wonder: Is direct X really better than OpenGL. I have heard that it is more difficult to program than OpenGL, but as I have never seen the code I can't substantiate it. From people who have programmed both; which is easier to program, which can output better graphics more easily?

Re:Is Direct X really better?

[Anonymous Coward]

First off, DirectX is a suite of multimedia APIs- Direct3D, DirectDraw, DirectSound, DirectSound3D, and DirectPlay.

Comparing Direct3D and OpenGL (which is probably what you want to do): Direct3D is by far much more advanced, supporting more functions + features that OpenGL's out of date API doesn't. Programming-wise, I have no idea how they compare.

Re:Is Direct X really better?

[john_uy]

i believe that directx is geared towards the consumer. like you said, it is more than just video but also network, sound, and input.

opengl, on the other hand, is geared for professional applications especially 3d. look at the pro graphic cards like firegl and quadro, they are supporting opengl. and most pro apps like maya, softimage, and lightwave require opengl and do not support the regular consumer video cards even though it may be faster and supports directx.

so i don't think that directx and opengl are closely matched. they are made for different applications and each is doing very well in their respective fields.

Re:Is Direct X really better?

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, I program with OpenGL, i've seen code for directX, and i knew then that DX had a huge amount of code for doing non-graphics related stuff, but when it come to graphics, opengl wins hands down, mostly because of the simplicity of implememting different rendering techniques and the way polygon creation is set up

Re:Is Direct X really better?

[zulux]

Direct3D is by far much more advanced, supporting more functions + features that OpenGL's out of date API doesn't.

OpenGL is by far much more advanced, suporting more platforms + processors that DirectX's out of date API doesen't.

Call me when Direct3D comes out for somthing other than a x86 pc.

Re:Is Direct X really better?

[tuxracer]

All I know is that in Unreal Tournament (a game designed for DirectX), when I enable the "experimental" OpenGL mode my framerate doubles, if not more.

Re:Is Direct X really better?

[prockcore]

opengl, on the other hand, is geared for professional applications especially 3d.

Yup. DirectX can't handle quads.. only triangles. DirectX can't handle NURBs (although I think that was one if the things DX9 is supposed to remedy). Quads and NURBs are the reasons professional 3d packages use OGL instead of DirectX.

Re:Is Direct X really better?

[Mac Degger]

The speed increace may also be due to the fact that a few specialfx have been implemented in a simpler form, thereby gobbling less processing power.

Re:Is Direct X really better?

[Mac Degger]

Yeah, 'cos there are so many 3d games for all those other platforms.

Re:Is Direct X really better?

[Sentry21]

In the areas where OpenGL and DirectX overlap, DirectX is quite a lot better. The benefit of Microsoft controlling standards, as opposed to the community, is that Microsoft can make decisive changes or updates to DirectX as it chooses. OpenGL, on the other hand, has to go through committee, which takes time.

In OpenGL games, you have to support OpenGL extensions to get anything that isn't directly supported by the OpenGL spec - which, at this point, is quite a lot. In order to do that, you have to go through the entire list of available extensions, check to see which ones you want, check to see which you have, enable the features that require the extensions you have, and disable the features that require extensions you don't. And if two manufacturers (ATI and NVidia) implement the same thing two different ways, you have to support both extensions to get anything depending on that to work.

As far as programming goes, DirectX used to be horrible, but it is now a lot better, easier to use, and faster to develop, in and of itself. Add in the complexity above, and, well, it's pretty obvious who's winning.

Don't get me wrong, I wish OpenGL would come out on top, but at the moment, DirectX just rocks my boxers, and that's all there is to it.

--Dan

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Important for Multiplayer/LAN gamers

[ancarett]

From the DirectX 9.0 FAQ:

Due to enhancements in the way DirectPlay functions, it is strongly recommended that all users who want to join or host multiplayer games upgrade to DirectX 9.0. A user with earlier versions of DirectX may have trouble joining or hosting games, or my see a significant performance reduction when playing with users who have 9.0 installed.

Re:Important for Multiplayer/LAN gamers

[jafuser]

protect you from 'malicious code'

If that were the case, then why do they tend to skip all of the spyware?

exploit?

[runderwo]

although we'll have to wait until the games that fully exploit it are released

Heh heh...oh yes, "exploit" all right. I can't wait until DirectX 9 is fully exploited, preferably giving me a system-level shell.

Re:exploit?

[runderwo]

Ooh. 3D shell!

ROFL. Thanks for the laugh! :)

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Here's why it's a valid Slashdot article.

[Morky]

DirectX has no reason to exist other that the hope that Microsoft has that they can pull so far ahead of an open standard, such as OpenGL, that games will look their best (or better yet for Microsoft, will only work at all) on Winx86. This is Slashdot news because a) it's a threat to open standards b) it's still interesting tech despite ill intent of it's conception and c) Slashdot is not a Linux site.

Re:Here's why it's a valid Slashdot article.

[0x0d0a]

This optimizations may be nvidia-specific stuff, since I never used other 3D hardware than nvidia. But that seems to be the beauty of OpenGL, one can extend it since it is open...

I spoke with one of the higher-ups of hardware development at NVidia recently -- he doesn't like DirectX, as it's a battle to get MS to support each new feature, and in an industry where a six month lead on a new feature is important, that's a big deal. OpenGL has a standard way of supporting new extensions, which he really likes.

Not terribly impressed

[NeoSkandranon]

I'll be excited when
1) there are DX9 games available
2) a DX9 compat. card can be had without forking over a majority of my month's paycheck

Re:Not terribly impressed

[racerx509]

"2) a DX9 compat. card can be had without forking over a majority of my month's paycheck"

Yea and by that time, you'll have one and want a card that is DX 11 or DX 12 compliant that won't cost a month's paycheck.

Re:Not terribly impressed

[MtViewGuy]

Two answer your two points:

1. Microsoft's Asheron's Call 2 will be the first game to use DirectX 9.0 features. There are a number of upcoming games that will very likely use DirectX 9.0; I wouldn't be surprised that we see a patch for Neverwinter Nights to include DX9 support and EverQuest 2 will also include DX9 support.

2. The only reasonably-priced card that will support DX9 is are the cards from ATI OEM's that use the Radeon 9500 moniker; ATI's own Radeon 9500 Pro and Radeon 9700 Pro cards will support DX9 if you install the ATI CATALYST 3.0 display driver for Windows Me, Windows 2000 and Windows XP. I think that nVidia will have GeForce FX variants with full DX9 supports from low-cost to top-end models by the late Spring 2003.

Re:Not terribly impressed

[NeoSkandranon]

To all those knocking my paycheck---no i dont make much, i work parttime and go to school parttime

Re:Not terribly impressed

[NeoSkandranon]

Maybe so, but there wont be any DX11 games out then either i bet ;)

dx versus opengl

[Anonymous Coward]

why do ppl always compare dx against opengl? they are two quite different things. + opengl is graphics api + directx is api for graphics,sound,network,input devices. you should compare SDL or maybe allegro (dont remember the link) against dx but not a graphics api!

Re:Pathetic.

[NineNine]

PR department for MS? I've *never* seen a positive article here about anything MS. Even this one has a jab about OpenGL. PR department it ain't. On the other hand, every time there's a new Linux x.xxxx.xxx.xxx or Mozilla 0.xxxxx release, it's announced as the "MS killer". I don't know what you've been reading kiddo.

Besides, believe it or not, geeks actually use MS stuff all the time. And kid, let me suggest that if you're so utterly offended, that you just set your preferences to ignore all MS related articles. You'd think that suck a l33t Linux h4x0r such as yourself would have figured this out already.

Bad match.

[Anonymous Coward]

A better comparison would be between Direct3D and OpenGL, with SDL up against all other parts of DirectX.

What about 7th Legion?

[Snaller]

All well and fine, but what do I do about "7th Legion"? It seems to require Direct X 5 and the graphics look weird under Direct anything else...

Considerable understatment

[Hartley1]

You'll have to wait a few years before there more than a handful of games that take advantage of it.

Re:Old card support?

[JaredOfEuropa]

"DirectX doesn't support cars, cards support DirectX (hereafter, "DX")."

That sounds like one of those "In Soviet Russia..." jokes.

Bacteria screensaver?!?

[Bob-o-Matic!]

HOLY SHIT!!!

Honey-- I told you not to turn off the antivirus autochecker!!

All kidding aside, I downloaded the demos and screensavers (If you upgraded from the DX9 Beta you have to reinstall all the demos), and I for one am astounded! I NEVER use screensavers at home, but will now... with the lights off, and some Pink Floyd...

I wish ATI will release an "aquarium" themed screensaver or demo... something with jellyfish would be awesome! I mean, just replace the bacteria, right?

Re:Old card support?

[Schnapple]

When I was running a Voodoo3, I couldn't run crap once I upgraded to DX 8.1 (though IIRC, RX 8.0 was fine). Due to the wonderful way DX works, I had to reinstall Win98 (yeah yeah I know) to ditch it. I then found Voodoo Files where, somehow, people were still writing/hacking/whatever new Voodoo drivers. I downloaded some recent ones and viola - DX 8.1 worked - minus things even the HAL couldn't even do at that point. My best guess was that something in DX 8.1 did something the last official 3dfx drivers really didn't like, so DX wouldn't get along with them at all - but newer, obviously unofficial ones did.

So if you want to upgrade to DX 9 I'd say hit up Voodoo Files first. By that token though, I don't think DX 9 will go any faster for you and you in all likelihood won't be able to run any of the "new" features, but it's better than nothing. Might help put off that upgrade for a little while.

I'd love to know how people are making these new drivers, though.

License Changes?

[nurb432]

Anyone know how MORE restrictive its licensing will be? Given Microsoft's track record of tightening its grip on each and every release/update of all its software.

Not intended to start a flame war, I'm just curious.. as the last update of media player we weren't able to install, due to the 'added' bits, as they violated some of our privacy polices.. the license latest service pack for Win2000 is still being evaluated.

In the end, at the rate they are going we may have to go OSS for these reasons alone. ( which is fine by me )

exploit?

[evilviper]

although we'll have to wait until the games that fully exploit it are released

Exploit is an interesting choice of words when used to describe any aspect of Windows...

Perhaps CmdrTaco is hard at word on the DX9 version of CodeRed...

Sure, you might get Rooted, but at least the defacing will look purty.

Re:ati is only supporter

[MagPulse]

Geforce 3 supports DX 8.1, and of course the GF4 does as well.

More information about Animusic...

[antdude]

Link: Check out the Web site. They got really cool demos.

Is this how MS will forcefeed DRM?

[mnemotronic]

Is directX9 how Billy G. will attempt to get Digital Rights Management onto my computer? Tie a bunch of really kewl games/graphics features to a "protection" mechanism that makes a colonoscopy look like a walk in the park? I really need to be protected from all that content I've purchased.

Had to uninstall it

[rikkards]

I installed DX 9 (but made a restore point prior to installing it) and found that with Age of Kings that I was getting a black screen on 1280x1024 resolution. So I had to go back.

Re:Old card support?

[racerx509]

"You've got it backwards... DirectX doesn't support cars, cards support DirectX (hereafter, "DX")"

Well in Soviet Russia, Direct X supports the cards.

(I have an impending sense of being modded down for another tired Soviet Union joke, but i couldn't resist)

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Having a 56K Modem Shouldn't Have to Hurt

[KalvinB]

DirectX 9 is now available from Microsoft but in very large files. Icarus Independent now offers an alternative here at the DevZone. Download as much or as little as you need. Each section of DirectX 9 is neatly zipped up in it's own file.

If the download is still a bit daunting head to here and request the DirectX 9 SDK be included on a Content CD which costs only $2 per 650MB plus shipping which is typically less than $2 within the US.

Ben

OpenGL

[thenovacrisis]

"Now all we have to wait for is OpenGL 2.0!" Isn't that like saying, "Now all we have to wait for is God to ride down on a cloud and hand deliver it to us!"

DirectX 9 Problems

[neosiv]

I installed this yesterday, mostly because Microsoft's Impossible Creatures wanted it installed. Later I tried running a networked game of Dungeonsiege but it would crash when I tried start it. My guess was that DirectX 9 broke the networking module. To test my theory I went back to a restore point before DirectX 9 and sure enough directX networking was working again. I have XP installed, I'm not sure if anybody else has seen this. Maybe it is just an issue with my config.

Re:DirectX 9 Problems

[LordYUK]

1) Impossible Creatures DOESNT need DX9... I played it fine on DX8, no problems, no visual glitches. Unless you have a radeon 9500 or 9700, you're not going to notice anything, and if previous posters are to be believed, having a non-DX9 card will actually make it slower. I cant confirm this, only reposting what others have said.

2) If you'd read the other posts, you'll notice that BOTH/ALL computers in a networked game need DX9 in order for it to function properly on a network.

Its amazing the crap that gets modded here, especially up to a 4.

ATI and naming conventions

[T-Kir]

Although I can't be bothered to search for the link (it was on Anandtech or Toms Hardware), but apparently the ATI cards incorporate the DirectX version in their names.. hence the 9xxx cards were designed with DirectX 9.x in mind (hardware manufacturers have had the spec for months), and the Radeon 8xxx series was designed with DirectX 8.x... etc.

nVidia on the other hand started messing things up with the MX's, Ti's and Pure versions (let alone the FX, what next? FX2 or FX Part Deux?)... let alone any correlation to new or existing graphics technologies... i.e. they're just there to confuse Joe Public into thinking a GeForce 4 MX is better than a GeForce 3 etc.

DRM?

[Rai]

And what DRM nonsense will this release include?

So We Should Hear About the First Exploit When?

[Master of Transhuman]

Next week by Tuesday before lunch?

Re:Old card support?

[Curien]

Do your drivers support DX9?

Also, the demos could simply refuse to run on the HEL. Dunno... haven't checked.

Don't be a munchkin

[0x0d0a]

What is fact is that OpenGL does a tiny fraction of what DirectX does.

And do you say that DirectX sucks because "Direct3D only does 3D"? No. You use a bunch of libraries of varying quality because MS has marketed them under a single name ("DirectX")? I suppose if you use OpenGL, you cannot use OpenAL?

Hell, I can fix that right now. I name the combination of SDL, OpenGL, OpenAL, SDL_ttf, SDLSprite and SDL_image "HyperX". Voila! By your criteria, now HyperX is better, because it does more!

Re:Old card support?

[Mac Degger]

MAn, not to troll or anything...but when will you guys realise that voodoo is dead! As a doorstop! And so is it's proprietary api. Let them go, dudes.

Re:Old card support?

[strictnein]

DirectX doesn't support cars

Does it support cdrs?

(for those who read slashdot daily... yes, I did indeed rip off that lame attempt from humor from a post a day or two ago)

=)

On the other hand...

[dpilot]

Let's imagine that you have a new feature that doesn't exactly play with Microsoft's strategic direction of the week. You're frozen out.

Really, that's the issue, here. Who's in the driver's seat. If you're *just* DirectX, then Microsoft is in the driver's seat, and you're maybe in the passenger's seat or back seat, but maybe you're back in the trunk or the trailer. Right now ATI and nVidia get to ride in the car with the driver, and they have some say about the hardware features that DirectX expresses.

Playing nicely with OpenGL and Open Source gives graphics makers a chance to differentiate their product. Maybe it's an extension, not OpenGL base, but at least OpenGL has the extension mechanism, and you're not petitioning Microsoft to grant your feature. Open source is not even a bad move, for some niche products, since many of those run on Unix/Linux, anyway.

Of course a graphics maker must play ball with Microsoft these days. But there are good business reasons to also keep a finger in the Open Source corner, too.

Gun Metal Demo

[BrookHarty]

So I downloaded the Gun Metal DX9 demo from nvidia, it says unsupported card on my ATI 9700.

Strange, ATI 9700 is the only DX9 card out. Also ATI's Demos and Screen savers will run on any DX9 card. Seems NVIDIA is up to the tricks again.

Bad enough, games come out with "Made to be played on Nvidia" or some other crap.

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Warning

[bayankaran]

I just installed the new DirectX 9 and upgraded the ATI driver for Radeon8500 (there is no real advantage for DirectX 9 with Radeon8500). The system got completely screwed up. I had to reinstall everything.

After installing the ATI drivers the system restarts...here it hangs. Be careful while doing this...there is some problem with DirectX and ATI Radeon drivers.

You really have to wonder.

[Inoshiro]

It's 2002. Out of the box, Quake 2 and even Quake World will just work with your computer as long as you have drivers for your card from your card provider. Why? Because OpenGL is so standardized, that you can keep running your games years later. What else offers this security? Only consoles. I can still play Metal Gear on my NES as easily as Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty on my PS2.

What happens when I try to run a DOS VGA game? A DOS CGA game? A DX 1 game? Not much...

Microsoft says they've tried to keep things compatible, but I've yet to see Windows DX games which work after multiple DX major version upgrades (3-5+) without some patching. Just another reason to console game :)

Re:You really have to wonder.

[Ayende Rahien]

DX is compatible down to version 1.0, and MS has a very good track record in backward compatability.
I wouldn't worry about DX games stopping to function as long as they were written correctly.

Death to "rich"

[andy@petdance.com]

I'd like to see the word "rich" forcibly removed from marketers' vocabularies.

DirectX supports "rich audio". What is THAT?

Re:Old card support?

[geekoid]

There is a program called Direct X buster that will totally remove DX fom your system, so you can reinstall it without reinstalliung your OS.
It saved my ass last time DX corrupted my system.

Re:Old card support?

[Mitchell Mebane]

DirectX doesn't support cars

Hmm... well, I knew that, but I guess some people might not... Thanks for clarifying!

Re:Old card support?

[dknj]

Yes, if you do not get hardware acceleration on a certain function, the program can choose to fail instead of using emulation. With that said, why would ati want to show off features of its dx9-compliant card on subpar hardware?

-dk

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