Microsoft Reveals DirectX 11, I Cry For Joy And Sadness

Microsoft has decided that the time is right to start talking about DirectX 11. Like Windows 7 and Vista, it seems that MS is obsessed with talking about what's new and cool on the horizon before fixing or enhancing what's currently there. I mean, seriously, if you're going to talk about the cool things your next generation of stuff can do, you might also want to talk about the cool things you are working on for the current generation.

In any case, DirectX 11 seems like it will add some nice features to the graphics API set. The biggest enhancement, at least in my opinion, is the ability for your computer to use your graphics card as an additional processor. Developers could then harness the power of your graphics card for more than just 3D processing! Another enhancement is, of course, better shading technology. Also, DirectX 11 is designed to work better with and take more advantage of multi-core systems, which is a logical progression as most (ok, all) gaming and graphics intensive PCs are multi-core these days (and getting more multi every day… 20-core processors!! Rah!!).

Oh yeah, and DirectX 11 is also Vista exclusive. Just so you XP users know. Maybe this time around, DX 11 will be worth the upgrade? How about they get more than 5 developers to make games harnessing DX 11, unlike DX 10? One more bit of kinda good news, and I'll let this go: Your DirectX 10/10.1 cards are not going to be made necessarily obsolete by DX 11, as it will support the "old" standards as well (all bitterness aside, that does make me kinda happy).

DirectX 11 detailed; Vista and DX 10 / 10.1 hardware supported [Joystick]