Rumor Mill: DX9L=DX10 for XP

Big B

Big B

HWF Godfather
The Inquirer seems to think that Microsoft's next update on the DirectX front, 9.0L, is basically a rebadged DX10 for Windows XP.

One of the biggest issues is the fact that Nvidia or ATI won't have any mainstream or entry-level cards until at least mid- to end of Q1 2007. This suggests that if Vista tips up around the beginning of the year, gamers will be turned off by it.

As if Vista doesn't have enough things going against it as terms of appealing upgrades, you have to wonder what Redmond is thinking...assuming this is true.
 
OK that was kinda confusing i didn't know there was going to be a revision, but thats a very good point, i'm sure as hell not going to buy a new nvidia or ati card specially with the dumb power requirements for ONE CARD. yeah thats a funny point releasing so many games when they can't really even be used by many pople.
 
While I do think that Microsoft needs to rework their code, making DX10 games Vista exclusive might send more people to the console. As long as I can play games smoothly at 1024x768, I'm fine. Hell, I can play FEAR just fine, although Oblivion probably is the only game that I couldn't pull off with my current system. If Microsoft were completely rewriting the code so that there were significant changes to the OS itself, that'd be one thing. The problem is, most people will not have a DX10 card when Vista hits. Sure, early adopters will, but as much as I love my rig, I can't justify dropping $400-600 on a new video card when I've yet to have any game I play overpower my 6600GT. I know this is Microsoft, but something just seems odd about severing XP from Vista when most of Vista's improvements are eye candy.
Personally, my guess is that--at least for a few years--games will run with DX9, but offer better eye candy in DX10. For a game company, sure, you want a spectacular game, but you also want people to buy your game. Even Windows 2000 is still supported in every game I've seen so far, and XP isn't that much different (XP really is just Win2k Home, IMO).
Also, if Microsoft has paid attention, not everybody instantly migrates to the newest version of Windows right off the bat. DX10 does operate differently in the interaction with the OS, so a DX10 update to XP probably won't be possible. The division seems like a rather drastic division, as Microsoft has been pretty good about keeping their OS support around for years (they finally dropped Windows 98 support this year). I can see them slowly snubbing Win2k as part of a phase out system, but given that XP is still going to be the major OS for many folks for awhile, if they want to keep users, then phasing DX10 only in is going to have to take awhile.
 
yeah i think XP will be around for a really long time to come. I didn't leave 98 and i didn't want to because of system requremets, that said i think i swithced to XP 2 or so years after it came out
 
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