Re: For Windows Advocates: DX10 for Windows XP?

On Fri, 14 Sep 2007 20:08:17 +0200, Sandman <mr@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

In article <13ekn4gelaapbe8@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
"Daniel Johnson" <danieljohnson@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hi Windows Advocates, wherever you are! :)

So, is it true that DirectX 10 is Vista-only?

This is not yet officially true, that I know of. I don't believe
Microsoft has a public position at this time on whether DX10 will be
back-ported to XP or not. There are millions of legacy machines out
there which can easily accomodate DX10 cards, and there is nothing
technologically unfeasable about using them under XP. I don't believe
that Microsoft is going to leave them out in the cold. Remember that
XP is still being officially supported by Microsoft until 2010. I see
a version of DX10 for XP, eventually. Maybe even in SP3 when it is
released next year.



Yes. MS has back-ported a whole lot of stuff to XP,
but not this.

How's that for backwards-compatible, Dan?

DX10, the newest
iteration of the DirectX drivers, mainly aimed at hard core gamers, is
for a version of Windows that gamers generally doesn't use?

Windows gamers almost always use the "fastest, hottest" machines they
can afford, if they are serious gamers. They also usually continually
upgrade their hardware, and update their OS. I would venture to guess
that the majority of sales of Vista Ultimate are going to such
afficianados.


Microsoft figures they'll come along when the games they lust for
use DX10. By then their computers will have enough RAM to run
Vista and also play a game, or so one would think.

The amount of ram isn't the problem, Backards-compatibility is the
problem. Many games just doesn't work on Vista.

There is a reason for that, you know. And it isn't
"backwards-compatibility": it's "newer video-driver
model"-compatibility.

Vista has a newer driver model (Windows Vista Display Driver Model, or
"WDDM") which most older games cannot take advantage of (or even use,
in some cases.) Little backward-compatibility is built into this
model. But this is really nothing new. Usually, when a major version
of Windows is released, the video-driver model also changes, and is
usually functionally unusable in a previous Microsoft OS.

I enjoy a rousing session of "Halo: Combat Evolved" or "World of
Warcraft" in Vista, XP, or OS X equally, and they all operate about
the same, which is to say, they all work very well in any of the OSes
I can use.

My PC?
An Apple Intel iMac 20", Core 2 Duo, @2.33GHz, w/2GB dual-channel
memory (2x1024MB -- matched set)


Remember: the real customer for something like DX10 is not the
player of a game. It's the developer.

The "real" customer is "whover pays for the technology", whether he is
a private citizen, or a large corporation.

But I do understand your distinction, though I obviously don't agree
with it.


Huh?

DX10 is a clear win the game developers, since they no longer have to
deal with different featuresets in different video cards: a DX10 card
has a specific set of features MS has defined.

It's certainly about time that Microsoft started demanding uniformity
from the OEMs. It makes their job much simpler (and cheaper).


Expect game developers
to change over to DX10 as soon as it is decently possible.

"Decently possible"? Is it some how "indecent" at the present time?

"Now" is always a "decent time" when it comes to the sales of video
cards and games, especially if Microsoft's current OS has caught up
with the technology.

Expect customers to not follow?

The link "DirectX End-User Runtimes Web Installer" seemed like the
most likely one, I clicked it, it downloaded an installer and now I'm
good to go. Right?

Sure. That will be DirectX 9. That should be fine, for now.


Of course not.

I don't know. How do I see what DX version I have installed? is there
a DX10 for Windows XP? Do I have to install Windows Vista?

You can find out what DX you are using 'dxdiag', using the
Run command.

That was pretty hilarious in itself. You can't see it with some GUI
tool?

Idiot! the program itself IS a "GUI tool"
I guess you can just create a shortcut to the command on your Desktop,
and execute it from there. Will that satisfy your definition of "GUI
Tool"?

NOTE that many of the commands which may be executed using the XP CLI
results in a "GUI Tool" of some sort being displayed on the Windows
Desktop.

Unlike OS X, Windows XP does not have a programmable shell. The XP
"Command Prompt" is just a text-mode version of the Desktop. It is
simply a method of executing an OS-level command from a text-based
screen, rather than using the mouse. Some people like these sorts of
things (though there is hardly little one can accomplish with the
Command Prompt that he could not acomplish from the Desktop.) It is a
convenience for those who are more familiar with XP's command
structure, but a source of consternation to those whom I will refer to
as "nubies".


There is no DX10 for XP. You do not need to install
Vista until you want to play a game that actually requires it, and
today they are quite thin on the ground.


I'm certain this will be quickly-remedied in time for the upcoming
Holiday Season.

September 25th.

You, like other gamers, may want to hold off on Vista until you get
new, beefier hardware. Vista has a larger memory footprint than XP,
and games are voracious consumers of memory, so moving to Vista
without adding memory will almost certainly mean a small loss of
frame rate.

4GB should be enough.

Actually, 2GB is more than adequate to use almost any graphic-oriented
game (and use them to their limits), as long as it is used in
conjunction with at least a DX9-card, fast CPU (Core 2 Duo or better),
and plenty of HD space. And XP or Vista, of course.

I do advise one to hold off on Vista until SP1 is released. While it
is currently feature-complete, and fairly stable, it still tends to
sting the user from time to time. But if you must, be prepared for a
few sessions with your Confessor until you get the hang of it.

Donald McDaniel
.

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