WGF is now DirectX 10

[tux]

MICROSOFT finally saw sense and decided to drop Windows Graphic Foundation (WGF) and replace it with the more easier and logical DirectX 10 name for its nexgen API.

It gave some details to the developers officially about its upcoming API and we know that it plans to release this API together with Longhorn. Or Vista, as we must learn to call it.

The DirectX 10 API will have completely new and faster dynamic link libraries (DLLs) and is supposed to run much faster. The company decided to cut the backward compatibility with DirectX 9, 8, 7 and lower in this API but there will be a way to use games programmed for those APIs. Microsoft will enable support for DX 9 or lower games through a software layer, meaning it might run slower.

The company did this to make the next API faster, it said, and at the same time will take some burden of the CPU runtime. At the same time we learned that DirectX 10 will have support for Shaders beyond Shaders, model 4.0.

It's coming with Longhorn but we learned that Shader Model 4.0 might come even before Vista.

Source: The Inquirer (http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=25902)

[Specis]

Intresting, about time microsoft cut support for the older API's, though cutting support for Directx9 could be a slightly bad idea. but i suppose its just a wait and see what happens event :)

[Eric]

Yes, that abandon of DirectX 9 is a bit surprising considering that's what there is in XBox360.
As for the DLL enhancements, from other sources I gathered that the main one is just having everything in user mode, instead of kernel mode like in old DirectX, which saves a lot of kernel mode switches and allows small batches to be efficient (like in OpenGL).
Another interesting twist is that DirectX 10 looks like much more of a state machine according to rumours, rather than the more OO design of previous DirectXs. We'll see.

Since MS are also making a mess of OpenGL in Vista by artificially limiting its hardware-acceleration support (cf. OpenGL.org, since it's a purely artificial limitation though, I'm hoping IHVs will find a way around), it looks like MS tried to make sure nothing 3D is going to transition smoothly in the Vista era... At least we can't accuse them of just axing a non-MS API since DirectX also gets the axe. :lol:

[Clootie]

"DirectX Next" always was and IS the DirectX 10 for programmers. WGF 1.0 and WGF 2.0 are just marketing names.
And MS will not be dropping / restricting DirectX9 support for Vista in any way. How can anybody believe what MS will not allow current games run on Vista? (Althrow talks about DX9 vs DX10 have some ground below them)

PS. Actually MS already cripped DX in Win64. IIRC only Direct3D9 (from all D3D versions) is supported for 64bit applications.

[Lightning]

Since MS are also making a mess of OpenGL in Vista by artificially limiting its hardware-acceleration support (cf. OpenGL.org, since it's a purely artificial limitation though, I'm hoping IHVs will find a way around), it looks like MS tried to make sure nothing 3D is going to transition smoothly in the Vista era... At least we can't accuse them of just axing a non-MS API since DirectX also gets the axe. :lol:

I don't think MS will axe their own API but at least for OpenGL they might cause some temporary troubles, in the worse case we will see those old-fashioned driver+OpenGL dlls again wich won't need much winapi anyway, the drivers could easily bypass any limitations.

[Sly]

There is this new information (http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=345641) about DirectX 10. Essentially, DirectX 9 will be included in Vista as the backwards compatibility. DirectX 10 will require new DirectX 10-compatible hardware (none of which exists yet).