DirectX History
DOS
- Games had complete control over hardware
- But, no standards for video hardware w/ acceleration
Games SDK
- Support games on Windows 95
DirectX 2.0 (commercial release of Games SDK)
- Games could use frame buffer directly
- No 3D support (games still do their own)
DirectX 3.0 for Win95/NT 4.0
- 3D support: Direct3D and DirectSound 3D
- Foundation for all graphics (more than just games)
DirectX 5.0/5.2 for Win9X/NT 5.0
- More APIs, more devices, more features, hierarchy of services
DirectX 6.0 for Win98/NT ??
- More devices, more features, new hardware, billing (!)