Microsoft Releases First DirectX 9 Beta
BetaNews | at | by Mike
DirectX 9.0 Beta 1 made its long awaited debut this week, with Microsoft issuing the release to partners and beta testers. The Beta 1 SDK download was made available last weekend, with the end-user runtime appearing Friday via Web-based setup. DirectX is Microsoft's suite of application programming interfaces used by developers to take full advantage of Windows' multimedia capabilities. Version 9.0 most notably adds a new high-level shader language -- based on C -- designed to simplify development.
"DirectX 9.0 offers unparalleled advances in graphics technology," said Microsoft's director of Windows Gaming and Entertainment, Ted Hase. "Microsoft always has been a pioneer in the development of best-of-breed technologies and tools that facilitate the development of great gaming content. Developers will discover that the new capabilities built into DirectX 9.0 make it significantly easier to create content that demonstrates richness, robustness and totally immersive depth."