November 30, 2009 by
Jason
Although word of DirectX 11 has been around for over a year, with Microsoft sharing actual details with developers and partners, Windows 7’s graphics technology will only from now come into play. With the latest iteration of the Windows client available for purchase for a little over a month, customers worldwide can start taking advantage of the successor of DirectX 10, by leveraging Windows 7 computers in concert with DirectX 11 graphics cards. At this years’ Professional Developers Conference, the Redmond company share additional details related to DX11 in no less than two sessions.
Less fortunate devs that were unable to attend PDC 2009 can still access conference content from Microsoft, with video available on both DX11 sessions. Developers interested in Direct3D, Direct2D, and DirectWrite can watch “Modern 3D Graphics Using Windows 7 and Direct3D 11 Hardware” and “Advanced Graphics Functionality Using DirectX.”
“With the onset of new Direct3D 11 hardware, gain practical knowledge to help you push graphics to the limit. Learn about the new tessellation stage in Direct3D 11, which enables an unprecedented level of rendering quality by dynamically generating geometry on the GPU. In addition, see how the multi-core improvements in the Direct3D 11 runtime can help you scale your application to take full advantage of all of the cores on a machine. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | No Comments »
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 »
February 16, 2009 by
Jason
As an integral part of taking the graphics capabilities of Windows 7 to the next level, Microsoft has also catalyzed the evolution of text, both in relation to typography and text rendering, in the next iteration of the Windows client. According to Microsoft, over 80% of the time spent in front of a computer is related to either reading or writing text. This is why the Redmond company has poured resources into improving the quality of text in Windows 7, quality which is synonymous with typography. “As a platform, the role of Windows is to deliver great presentation of text and offering software developers great tools for creating the best presentation possible in the context of the software they develop,” revealed Worachai Chaoweeraprasit, a development lead on the Graphics feature team.
First off, Windows 7 is designed to kick ClearType up a notch. Taking advantage of the LCD pixel architecture and leveraging the human visual system, ClearType manages to spread the energy associated with a single pixel to the neighboring sub-pixels in, making text appear sharper. In Windows 7, ClearType comes with increased clarity, allowing end users to opt from a wider variety of granular choices via the ClearType Text Tuner. Read More»
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