Re: Directx 10 support
The photos on that page look supicously like the press mockups rather than
actual in-game rendering. Where are in-game XP screenshots of Bioshock, Lord
of the Rings Online, etc.?
Whatever these guys have done is a hack to get the API to redirect to the
XPDM for things that exist in common with D3D9. Unless they've gotten
NVIDIA, AMD/ATI, and Intel to expose features in their drivers in private
APIs that exposes new D3D10 DDI features, they are basically getting you
nothing but D3D9 using the D3D10 API. The whole point of Direct3D 10 is that
it's a package of new APIs, new HLSL compiler technology, new driver model,
and better integration with the overall system.
There no doubt that there's an immense amount of FUD around Windows Vista.
Most of it isn't technically justified, but then again FUD usually isn't
based on technical merits at all. It's based on perception. Direct3D10,
WDDM, UAC, RDTSC-based kernel scheduling, MMCS, and many other technologies
that debut in Windows Vista are investments Microsoft has made in the
platform. Fixes in common in our current OS that make sense to move
downlevel to Windows XP are done all the time, but getting major new
technology components to work in the older OS is as much work as writing a
new OS in the first place. It requires an entirely new generation of
drivers. These changes need implementation, testing, vetting, and an
infrastructure of third party support. Microsoft has already done all this:
its' called Windows Vista.
Microsoft is on track to stop selling Windows XP at the end of this month,
and this means you won't see Windows XP at the stores or through OEMs.
Microsoft still supports existing customers and system builders can still
get it for another six months. The only version of Windows XP we will
continue to sell is Home Edition through OEMs only for Ultra Low-Cost PCs.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/lifecycle/default.mspx
--
Chuck Walbourn
SDE, XNA Developer Connection
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.