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DirectX 10 Hardware Is Now Obsolete
ela_gervaise writes "SIGGRAPH 2007 was the stage where Microsoft dropped the bomb, informing gamers that the currently available DirectX 10 hardware will not support the upcoming DirectX 10.1 in Vista SP1. In essence, all current DX10 hardware is now obsolete. But don't get too upset just yet: 'Gamers shouldn't fret too much - 10.1 adds virtually nothing that they will care about and, more to the point, adds almost nothing that developers are likely to care about. The spec revision basically makes a number of things that are optional in DX10 compulsory under the new standard - such as 32-bit floating point filtering, as opposed to the 16-bit current. 4xAA is a compulsory standard to support in 10.1, whereas graphics vendors can pick and choose their anti-aliasing support currently. We suspect that the spec is likely to be ill-received. Not only does it require brand new hardware, immediately creating a minuscule sub-set of DX10 owners, but it also requires Vista SP1, and also requires developer implementation.'"
4xAA is a compulsory That would seem to me to be the biggest change, that it requires batteries now.
The Banjo Players Must Die!
You mean developers are actually using DirectX 10?
By reading this you acknowledge that you have read it.
I'm sure the two developers using DX10 are gonna be pissed.
Conan - Are you comfortable and angry Pierre?
Pierre - Comfortable and furious Conan.
Conan - So what are you upset about today?
Pierre - I've been a fan PC Games for ages Conan. To play the latest and greatest games requires me to continually upgrade my computer. Recently I upgraded to Windows Vista by Microsoft in order to play their newest game "Shadowrun". My PC could handle it although there wasn't much benefit over using Windows XP. It, however, required a lot more RAM and faster CPU in order to run smoothly. The game itself required the best video card I could afford. This was a serious investment, the video card alone put me back about the price of a new "non-gaming" PC. All this new hardware also required a bigger power supply, which wound up adding to my expenses. I wound up replacing my entire PC in order to save money. And since I was only upgrading for one game only it was difficult to upgrade for that alone, but I did so knowing my investment would last a year or two. Now Microsoft has announced DirectX 10.1 which makes all hardware for DirectX 10 obsolete. This made my previous investment from a month ago already worthless. To add salt to my wounds most of the features of 10.1 were optional and did nothing to improve the product. PC Gaming is an enjoyable experience, although an expensive one. Hardware should last a minimum of 6 months cutting edge, and about a year for not-the-best but playable.
Bottom line America? Microsoft needs to realize that features need to be worthwhile and should always be optional. If they are truly worth it, they will be adopted as standard by the general public very quickly.
Conan - Thank you Pierre, I'm sure two or three people across America know exactly what you're feeling like.
But it's NEW man! NEW!!! YOU MUST SUPPORT THE NEW!!! :o EVERYONE GO OUT AND BUY VISTA AND DX10.1 COMPATIBLE GRAPHICS CARDS... NEW!!! Everyone is obsolete!1 The world will soon be out of date ._.
which is totally what she said
Uh oh, it looks like my current OpenGL hardware is now obsolete.
Yeah, this move surely fractured the DX10 developer community.
Patents Drive Free Software as Hurricanes Drive Construction Industry
DirectX is a standard and de facto standards are a subset of standards: the minority that are actually used.
A standard is just a set of rules. If I wrote a blog article "Rules for wiping ones arse" that would be a standard. In the unlikely event it became widely accepted it would be a de facto standard. If the international community became concerned about global arse-wiping inconsistency it could ultimately become an ISO standard.
@llgaz: "No, nothing can be obsolete on open industry standards like OpenGL. At last resort, your OpenGL layer would "software render" the OpenGL 3 content instead of telling GPU to draw it."
Yes, well I remember setting up my first Linux install on an old and ludicrously underpowered machine, and immediately launching (naturally) TuxRacer.
First image: Tux happily sitting on sled at top of hill.
Second image (10 seconds later): Tux careening wildly out of control down the hill.
Third image (10 seconds later): Tux's terror-striken face as he flails through the air toward a stand of trees.
Fourth image (10 seconds later): "Game over."
If the international community became concerned about global arse-wiping inconsistency it could ultimately become an ISO standard.
I'm imagining the worst ISO audit ever.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.