DirectX Media: comprising DirectAnimation for 2D web animation, DirectShow for multimedia playback and streaming media, DirectX Transform for web interactivity and Direct3D Retained Mode for higher level 3D graphics.DirectMusic: for playback of soundtracks authored in DirectMusic Producer.DirectSound3D (DS3D): for the playback of 3D sounds.DirectSound: for the playback and recording of waveform sound.DirectPlay: for networked communication of games (Along with DirectInput, was last updated in version 8.For keyboards and mice, WM INPUT is recommended instead.) DirectInput: for interfacing with keyboards, mice, joysticks, or other game controllers (Not updated since 8 except for XInput, which is specifically for Xbox360 controllers.

Direct3D (D3D): for drawing 3D graphics.DirectDraw: for drawing 2D Graphics ( raster graphics) (now mostly deprecated, although still in use by many).DirectX Graphics, comprising two APIs (DirectX 8.0 onwards):.Microsoft claims the reason for this is that there have been extensive changes in the Windows graphics architecture and introduction of the Windows Display Driver Model.ĭirectX functionality is provided in the form of Component Object Model interfaces, as well as a set of managed code interfaces.

The latest release versions of DirectX, DirectX 10 and DirectX 9Ex, are exclusive to Windows Vista. Game developers still often include an updated version of DirectX that prompts for installation automatically after the game installation to ensure proper program functionality. The DirectX runtime was originally redistributed by computer game developers along with their games, but later it was included in Microsoft Windows. DirectX is also used among other software production industries, most notably among the engineering sector because of its ability to quickly render high-quality 3D graphics using DirectX-compatible graphics hardware.īoth the DirectX runtime and software development kit are available free of charge, but are proprietary and closed-source software. Direct3D (Graphics module of DirectX) is a direct competitor of the OpenGL standard, maintained by the Khronos Group.ĭirect3D is widely used in the development of computer games for Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Xbox and Microsoft Xbox 360. Microsoft DirectX (Direct eXtension) is a collection of application programming interfaces for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms.

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