Direct3D (the 3D graphics API within DirectX) is widely used in the development of computer games for Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Xbox, and Microsoft Xbox 360. Direct3D is also used by other software applications for visualization and graphics tasks, most notably among the engineering sector for CAD/CAM, because of its ability to quickly render high-quality 3D graphics using DirectX-compatible graphics hardware. As Direct3D is the most widely publicized component of DirectX, it is common to see the names "DirectX" and "Direct3D" used interchangeably.

Answered by Madhurima , an ibibo Master, at 3:01 PM on August 24, 2008

Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with Direct, such as Direct3D, DirectDraw, DirectMusic, DirectPlay, DirectSound, and so forth. DirectX, then, was the generic term for all of these APIs and became the name of the collection.

Answered by Ashish Yadav , an ibibo Wizard, at 12:54 PM on August 20, 2008

Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with Direct, such as Direct3D, DirectDraw, DirectMusic, DirectPlay, DirectSound, and so forth. DirectX, then, was the generic term for all of these APIs and became the name of the collection.

Answered by R.P. Singh , an ibibo Master, at 9:58 AM on August 07, 2008

Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with Direct, such as Direct3D, DirectDraw, DirectMusic, DirectPlay, DirectSound, and so forth. DirectX, then, was the generic term for all of these APIs and became the name of the collection.

Answered by Reeta K , an ibibo Master, at 3:12 PM on August 06, 2008

well, Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with Direct, such as Direct3D, DirectDraw, DirectMusic, DirectPlay, DirectSound, and so forth. DirectX, then, was the generic term for all of these APIs and became the name of the collection. After the introduction of the Xbox, Microsoft has also released multiplatform game development APIs such as XInput, which are designed to supplement or replace individual DirectX components.

Direct3D (the 3D graphics API within DirectX) is widely used in the development of computer games for Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Xbox, and Microsoft Xbox 360. Direct3D is also used by other software applications for visualization and graphics tasks, most notably among the engineering sector for CAD/CAM, because of its ability to quickly render high-quality 3D graphics using DirectX-compatible graphics hardware. As Direct3D is the most widely publicized component of DirectX, it is common to see the names "DirectX" and "Direct3D" used interchangeably.

The latest versions of Direct3D, namely, Direct3D 10 and Direct3D 9Ex, are exclusive to Windows Vista. The reasons, as Microsoft claims, is that there were extensive changes in the Windows graphics architecture, and in particular the introduction of the Windows Display Driver Model. Critics argue that there may be possible commercial motives as well. This redesign of the graphics infrastructure for Windows Vista supports virtualizing graphics hardware to multiple applications and services such as the Desktop Window Manager, in contrast to the exclusive access afforded to DirectX applications on Windows XP. Both Direct3D 9Ex and Direct3D 10 rely on the WDDM infrastructure and WDDM drivers.

Answered by Hemant Singh , an ibibo Master, at 5:27 PM on August 05, 2008

Direct X 10 is the latest version..
But that runs only if u have a Graphic Card..
It wont work on a simple PC...

Answered by shashank , an ibibo Citizen, at 4:36 PM on August 02, 2008

Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with Direct, such as Direct3D, DirectDraw, DirectMusic, DirectPlay, DirectSound, and so forth. DirectX, then, was the generic term for all of these APIs and became the name of the collection.

After the introduction of the Xbox, Microsoft has also released multiplatform game development APIs such as XInput, which are designed to supplement or replace individual DirectX components.

Answered by Shobhit , an ibibo Master, at 7:42 PM on July 30, 2008

DirectX 9.0c (June 2008 Update) is the latest version of DirectX for Windows XP users. Get it from:

www.microsoft.com/download s/Browse.aspx?displaylang=en&catego ryid=2

Whereas A major update to DirectX API, DirectX 10 ships with and is only available with Windows Vista; previous versions of Windows are not able to natively run DirectX 10-exclusive applications, although there are reports of DirectX 10 being ported to Windows XP. While Windows Vista is fully compatible with games and hardware that use older versions of DirectX, the new DirectX 10 features are available with a DirectX 10 compatible graphics card and games designed to take advantage of this new technology. To know more about DirectX 10, refer to:

www.gamesforwindows.com/en-U S/AboutGFW/Pages/DirectX10.aspx

The first video cards with DirectX 10 support are available today with ATI Radeon & NVIDIA GeForce cards. Get to know more about it at:

www.gamesforwindows.com/en-U S/Hardware/Pages/VideoCards.aspx

Answered by A.R. , an ibibo Master, at 1:13 PM on July 30, 2008

DirectX 9.0c (full package)

Applies to:
Windows XP, XP 64-bit, Vista (all versions), Windows Server 2003

Requirements
Windows XP, XP 64-bit, Vista (all versions), 2003
For details,please visit:
http://www.softwarepat ch.com/windows/directx.html

Answered by jaivir , an ibibo Master, at 9:50 AM on July 30, 2008

well, Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with Direct, such as Direct3D, DirectDraw, DirectMusic, DirectPlay, DirectSound, and so forth. DirectX, then, was the generic term for all of these APIs and became the name of the collection. After the introduction of the Xbox, Microsoft has also released multiplatform game development APIs such as XInput, which are designed to supplement or replace individual DirectX components.

Direct3D (the 3D graphics API within DirectX) is widely used in the development of computer games for Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Xbox, and Microsoft Xbox 360. Direct3D is also used by other software applications for visualization and graphics tasks, most notably among the engineering sector for CAD/CAM, because of its ability to quickly render high-quality 3D graphics using DirectX-compatible graphics hardware. As Direct3D is the most widely publicized component of DirectX, it is common to see the names "DirectX" and "Direct3D" used interchangeably.

The latest versions of Direct3D, namely, Direct3D 10 and Direct3D 9Ex, are exclusive to Windows Vista. The reasons, as Microsoft claims, is that there were extensive changes in the Windows graphics architecture, and in particular the introduction of the Windows Display Driver Model. Critics argue that there may be possible commercial motives as well. This redesign of the graphics infrastructure for Windows Vista supports virtualizing graphics hardware to multiple applications and services such as the Desktop Window Manager, in contrast to the exclusive access afforded to DirectX applications on Windows XP. Both Direct3D 9Ex and Direct3D 10 rely on the WDDM infrastructure and WDDM drivers.

Answered by Satya ~ , an ibibo Master, at 9:50 AM on July 30, 2008