Tag: direct3d
September 19, 2009 by
Jason
The latest updates to DirectX resources from Microsoft have been tailored to the most recent iteration of the Windows client. In this regard, the Redmond company revealed that both DirectX End-User Runtimes (August 2009) and the DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer come with support for Windows 7. Earlier this month, the software giant made available an update for the DirectX Software Development Kit (SDK) bringing to the table Direct3D 11, DXGI 1.1, Direct2D, and DirectWrite. The August 2009 (even though it was released in mid-September) DirectX SDK enables developers to build and distribute Direct3D 11 programs designed to play nice with DirectX 11 not only in Windows 7 but also in Windows Vista.
DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer – “provides updates to 9.0c and previous versions of DirectX — the core Windows technology that drives high-speed multimedia and games on the PC. Microsoft DirectX is a group of technologies designed to make Windows-based computers an ideal platform for running and displaying applications rich in multimedia elements such as full-color graphics, video, 3D animation, and rich audio. DirectX includes security and performance updates, along with many new features across all technologies, which can be accessed by applications using the DirectX APIs,” Microsoft noted. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | No Comments »
September 11, 2009 by
Jason Microsoft has made available for download updated DirectX 11 resources tailored to Windows 7 and Windows Vista, but also additional Windows client and server operating systems. According to the Redmond-based company, the refreshed DirectX 11 release brings to the table the RTM version of Direct3D. Essentially, what it is offering is an update for the DirectX software development kit. Developers are free to grab the SDK via the Microsoft Download Center since September 8, 2009.
“The August 2009 DirectX SDK contains the first official release of the DirectX developer resources for Direct3D 11, DXGI 1.1, Direct2D, and DirectWrite. Developers can now publish and distribute Direct3D 11 applications and games that leverage all of the software and hardware features of DirectX 11 in Windows 7 and Windows Vista,” Microsoft noted. “ll headers, import libraries, and symbol files (.pdb files) are no longer marked as beta with the ‘_beta’ suffix and now link to the RTM versions of the runtimes. In addition, the HLSL compiler features for Direct3D 11 are now of release quality. The beta DLLs are no longer available in the DirectX SDK.”
With the August 2009 DirectX Software Development Kit update, Microsoft is offering developers the new Effects runtime for Direct3D 11. Read More»
Posted in Software, Windows 7, Windows Vista | 2 Comments »
Following the release of the gold build of Windows 7 via MSDN and TechNet, Microsoft has now made available for download Windows 7 Code Pack 1.0. Version 1.0 of the Windows API Code Pack for Microsoft .NET Framework is designed to integrate with the RTM release of Windows Vista’s successor. Subscribers of both MSDN and TechNet can already download and install the final version of Windows 7 since the end of the past week. Now developers looking to start building applications for Windows 7 RTM can also grab Windows API Code Pack for Microsoft .NET Framework, but without the restrictions set in place by the MSDN or TechNet subscriptions.
“The Windows API Code Pack for Microsoft .NET Framework provides support for various features of Windows 7 and previous releases of that operating system. The Code Pack has reached version 1.0 and has been published on Code Gallery,” revealed Charlie Calvert, Microsoft C# community program manager.
According to Microsoft, Windows 7 RTM Code Pack 1.0 “provides a source code library that can be used to access some new Windows 7 features (and some existing features of older versions of Windows operating system) from managed code. These Windows features are not available to developers today in the .NET Framework.” Read More»
Posted in Software, Windows 7 | 1 Comment »
Microsoft has refreshed its lineup of DirectX offerings at the start of this week, and the company is by no means shy of focusing the spotlight on the evolution of the graphics technology as Windows 7 is contouring. The software giant is offering fresh Technical Previews of Direct2D, DirectWrite, and DXGI 1.1, but also a new TP release of Windows 7/Direct3D 11. The components are available for download as an integral part of the March 2009 iteration of the DirectX Software Development Kit, which is accompanied by the DirectX End-User Runtimes (March 2009) and the DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer. Microsoft delivered the first taste of Windows 7 DirectX 11 through the SDK back in November 2008.
Obviously the releases are aimed at a professional audience. Developers will be able to leverage the latest release of the SDK, combining the DirectX Runtime and additional software designed to permit the building of DirectX compliant solutions. With the March 2009 DirectX update, Microsoft has refreshed the tools and utilities included with the software development kit, but also the code samples, documentation, and the 32-bit and 64-bit runtime debug files. Read More»
Posted in Software, Windows 7 | 2 Comments »
November 06, 2008 by
Jason
The Games for Windows Branding tool is one of the evolved aspects of the DirectX software development kit launched on November 5, 2008 for a variety of Windows releases, including Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows XP Service Pack 3.
The November 2008 DirectX SDK delivers the Runtime, along with the additional software (updates to tools, utilities, samples, documentation, and runtime debug files) set up to enable developers to create content compliant with DirectX. Both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows are covered by the DirectX SDK update.
The November 2008 DirectX SDK has taken the Games for Windows Branding tool (offered initially in the August 2008 release of the SDK) to the next level. “This tool helps developers and publishers test their compliance against the Games for Windows technical requirements and test requirements,” revealed Microsoft. Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista, Windows XP | No Comments »
October 14, 2008 by
Jason The pain…
If you’ve invested your hard earned cash on a Creative X-FI sound card and a copy of Vista, you may be feeling a bit underwhelmed right now. Some of your games may be sounding a bit flat and lifeless and you’ll have no doubt felt that sinking feeling when you edit the sound settings in your new game only to find that you can’t enable some of the fancy options. There is a good reason for this and you probably will have been told at great length about it by one of the many passengers on the anti-Microsoft bandwagon.
The Science…
If you’re an experienced PC gamer you’ll no doubt be aware of DirectX and the various functions that make up the DirectX standard, such as DirectDraw, Direct3d and DirectSound and DirectSound3D. You will probably be aware of the hype surrounding Direct3d already, given that it has now reached version 10, but that’s a story for another day. DirectSound is what we are interested in here and it is sadly missing in Vista. XP and DirectX9 featured a “Hardware Abstraction Layer” which was a piece of software that allowed Windows to talk directly to a soundcard such as the X-FI to provide hardware mixing and 3d effects for your games. Without this layer any sound you hear will be mixed using software, rendering much of your shiny new soundcard useless. Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista | 1 Comment »
I’ve recently written an essay that discusses the impact Windows Vista will have on semiconductor suppliers to the PC ecosystem; both in PCs themselves and in tethered peripherals and LAN peers. When it’s published, I’ll give you a heads-up here in this blog, and I’ll welcome your feedback.
However, in the process of researching it, I collected an assortment of Vista suggestions that I thought you might find useful nearer-term. First off, however, a welcome update. Back in October of 2005, I alerted you to Microsoft’s then-plan to offer a degraded OpenGL graphics API experience under Windows Vista. Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista | No Comments »
Loading ...
