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DX11 Coming To Linux (But Not XP)
gr8_phk writes "As reported over at Phoronix, the Direct X 11 API now has an open source implementation on top of Gallium3d which should ease porting of games to Linux with or without Wine. While still in its infancy, you can see where this is heading. All this while Microsoft hasn't offered DX11 for their own aging WindowsXP. Could it be that Linux may soon support this Microsoft API better than Microsoft itself?"
Because I can't help but think that this may be some sort of scheme to put OpenGL out of the picture....
I'm generally not one to presume conspiracy right off the bat, but there's something about this that just doesn't quite seem on the up-and-up, IMO.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Graphics are an issue but Sound is the item holding back games for Linux.
If this can include a universal sound API then Microsoft will be in trouble.
If they seriously release some really nice games for Linux that use it, people will be all over this at least as a dual boot system. Gamers love it when they do something that takes their current hardware and makes it way faster without spending any money. Judging by how fast Ubuntu ran on a Pentium 3 I had, I'd say Linux frees up a little ram for gaming. I always thought they'd take off as a gaming platform if they really pushed it because it's free and fast which is always a plus for gaming.
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How could Gallium 3D run Direct X 11 in any way that could be comparable to the native Windows client, when it doesn't even do basic 3d acceleration as good as the proprietary blobs?
Because "corn" means a large grain.
Such as peppercorns, barleycorns, maize corns or (such as in the naming of corned beef), salt corns.
If you are describing what I think you are describing, then they may not be too difficult to write. If you consider the market share that XP still has, it would be a very worthwhile project.
The OEM version is available with any hardware purchase. My understanding is that to meet the requirement when ordering just the software they'll throw in a tiny "hardware" component (usually a screw or a cable) to legitimize it. If you have ANY other piece of hardware in your order though then even that is not needed.
In regard to features, you have a point there, though several features that were limited to the "Professional" version of XP (such as SMP support) have migrated to the "Home" version of Windows 7. That's assuming they were even using XP Pro. I know a lot of people that were using XP Home just fine. And if you really do need Professional, then the OEM Windows 7 Pro is only $40 more than Home Premium.
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MS won't support it on XP because they are trying to get gamers to buy Windows 7ista.
Doesn't work though. Look at how many Windows games are written for the Xbox360 and are therefore run fine with Directx9.
That doesn't seem that different, even back with Windows 2000 started the standard post-install/reinstall procedure:
* Folder tweaking (show hidden files, file extensions, otherwise it was impossible to see if something was an executable, icon or whatever)
* TweakUI to improve responsiveness of the UI (this is an official Microsoft tool though, just not shipped with OS).
* Registry tweaking (In win2k and winxp only to disable auto-loading of all useless services installed by required crapware like DVD-players, file archives, PDF readers, etc.)
* Enabling useful "eye-candy" (font antialiasing, and more), disable useless eye-candy (oversized borders, slow animations, etc).
So nothing much changed, it only got slightly worse.