Slashdot Mirror
The End Of DirectX As We Know It
socram writes "Speaking with ATI and NVIDIA at ECTS allowed us to confirm that after DX9.0, DirectX Graphics is no more. In name only. Microsoft's next set of core presentation and 3D APIs are now under the umbrella of Windows Graphics Foundation and Avalon. Microsoft will still rely on DirectX in name for the rest of the core components, but the graphics API is now under a new name. Look out for WGF 1.0 compatibility on the back of that next generation graphics card's box. Some WGF 1.0 Info!" Update: 09/06 22:27 GMT by T : David Ross of hexus.net points out that this text comes straight from hexus, and should have been credited as such.
And after WGF 9.0 they'll finally release OpenGL compatible standard! WOOHOO! :)
-- shortcut - the longest distance between two points.
...where developers have a glance at the new OpenGL?
such changes are perfect to look around instead of hurrying to the next "standard"-MS-stuff....with some luck game devs might see, that OpenGL is neither dead nor old-fashioned!
well, there is hope...even if it is just a little!
I think the name has a nice ring to it.
Microsoft has had some great innovative technologies, however their naming department isn't working all that hard.
Microsoft Windows
Windows Graphics Foundation
(B)it(M)a(P)
Microsoft Proxy Server
Exchange Server
Windows Update Server
Microsoft Word
and many more...
When modding "Informative", please make sure it both has a source and IS actually informative.
Did you really say I should look for WTF compatibility?
Hrm. I can hear the slogan now....
If it doesn't make you say "WTF" it isn't from Microsoft!
Clear, Dark Skies
This is a boat load of hogwash. DirectX is here to stay. DirectX is the damned core, Avalon, or whatever the heck they end up calling it is simply a layer on top of DX. But don't take my word for it, google it. There is enough info out there, that anyone that knows how to program for DirectX will immediately realise that it is being modified with the new UI in mind. It's being done to help it hook into DirectX, and if you examine the DX API closely (especially the latest SDK release), you'll notice a trend to add APIs that allow features that are required for a fully integrated UI. And at the end of the day, game developers will still be using the DX api.
---
Programming is like sex... Make one mistake and support it the rest of your life.
No, it's the gamedevelopers that does that for you by checking for if your card supports the features it needs to be playable.
It's not MicroSoft's fault, by any extension, it is however silly that you are not allowed to check if it is playable according to _your_ standard; and it's the gamedevelopers you should blame.
I guess it's easy to point at something big, like MS if you want someone to blame, people tend to do that.
What are you talking about? OS X has native support for OpenGL capability. It just so happens that some desktop graphics functions such as windows are offloaded to the GPU. OpenGL is the equivalent of DirectX. In fact, now that the ARB finally made a decision on shading languages, OpenGL's OGSL is superior to what Microsoft has to offer.
It's just that Microsoft is finally catching up with Apple in [b]using[/b] GPU functions to control more than just games.
I am defenseless. Use your button. Mod me down with all of your hatred.
Actually the whole graphic subsystem was in userland in Windows NT 3. It was bulletproof but slow and it did not allow the low level hw access needed for DirectX, so they moved it into kernel with NT 4.0. And I'm quite sure it will stay there.
What about the parts of DirectX that are not about 3D? The article is only about the Direct3D part of DirectX.
I'm using DirectShow a lot myself actually. Are changes expected there too?
(Score:5, Not Funny)
On most games today it says "runs on either Nvidia card xxx or ATI card yyy".
Well, on most of the requirements I've seen recently, it'll list something like "Graphics card: 100% DirectX 8 compatible, 64MB RAM". Just because in today's hardware market that translates to "a recent card from NVidia or ATI" doesn't make that MS's fault.
So my non-nvidia card won't help me even though DirectX 9.0c claims to be running fine
Chances are, DX 9 *is* running fine, but your card lacks support for certain features used by the game. Now, the game devs could fall back to software, or even just disable those features; not doing so is not the fault of DX or MS.
It's official. Most of you are morons.
It's not a good idea to replace an API when that API is one of the major libraries people use to display fast graphics.
It is however a good idea to force people to use a new standard when the old one has limitations that start to pop up. Sometimes it's necessary to cut the cables and start over.
Personally I think Dx9 is still all valid and good, it has no issues concerning shader support or other. I would not have replaced this API at this point, because I would consider the WGF as a surplus, something extra alongside DX. I guess doubling up the internal library is too cumbersome for the ones writing the video card drivers, which is why they replaced everything at once.
With great power comes great electricity bills.
I propose the following changes, which will result in clarity and increased initial understanding of the product:
Microsoft Windowbird
Bitthunder Mapping Format
Proxyfox
Microsoft WordBird
For every day use, the following abbreviations should be adopted to referring to the product as simple as possible:
MWB
BMF
PFX
MWD
Any more suggestions?
eBayDig 1s a typo saerch engien
Ending at Direct X 9.0??? They could have at least waited for the 10th version: the awesome name "Direct X, X"
main(O){10<putchar(4^--O?77-(15&5128 >>4*O):10)&&main(2+O);}
Two things:
1) that page, judging by the date at the bottom, is 7 years old - that's plenty of time for the situation to have completely changes
2) judging from the logo on it and the URL, the guy is particularly anti-MS; you might want to cite a source with a little more objectivity
It's official. Most of you are morons.
wait for DirectX 20
DirectXXX
I did not say you are wrong, I said the thing you quoted from the article is unlikely to happen.
You are right, much time have passed since NT 3.1. Those days microkernels was thought to be the state of art, the future of kernels. Smart people claimed that as the hardware evolve, the performance gap between monolithic kernels and microkernels will become negligible and the robustness of microkernels will make it superior.
But it did not happen. Today, monolithic kernels dominate the desktop market, the only exception is OSX with its Mach kernel. The quasi-micro NT kernel was turned into a bloated monolithic kernel, BeOS died, and Hurd... hasn't really born yet.
Conclusion: monolitic design is still the way to follow.
Now back to the original topic: I don't really see any reason for userland graphics except stability. It WILL decrease performance, which is cruical for the VGA cards, and might result in driver incompatibility I think. If I'm right, then it will take quite some time to write compatible drivers for older cards (assuming that nvidia and ati is willing to write for their own cards). And Microsoft does not have time, they already decided to leave out WinFS from Longhorn. They can't postpone Longhorn beyond 2006 because that would be too big pull for desktop Linux/BSD. And I guess by 2006 ReactOS will become a usable OS too.
"We must start coding our version NOW if we're going to have any chance of opening up how girls actually work!"
I'm sorry to tell you that this is the impossible dream. Having been married for 21 years and having 3 daughters I am an expert on how little men will ever know about women. The more you learn, the less sense it makes. Accept it and try to solve an easier problem, like the beginning of the universe, it will take less time and be achieveable!
Professional Politicians are not the solution, they ARE the problem.
Won't Go Fast
Would you like me to:
- Make your dinner?
- Massage your feet?
- Get you a beer from the fridge?
Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.