DirectX: List of New Features Included in Microsoft DirectX 6.0 |
Q191829
The information in this article applies to:
-
the operating system: Microsoft Windows 95
-
the operating system: Microsoft Windows 98
SUMMARY
This article describes the new features that are included in Microsoft
DirectX 6.0.
MORE INFORMATION
DirectX 6.0 is composed of the following five components:
- Direct3D is used for 3-dimensional rendering.
- DirectPlay is used for multi-player gaming.
- DirectDraw is used for onscreen graphics.
- DirectSound is used for audio playback.
- DirectInput is used for input device support.
Direct3D
The new features in Direct3D include:
- Significantly faster performance due to overall improvements in the
run-time components of Direct3D.
- A completely rewritten geometry engine, which is responsible for
transforming and lighting operations and includes processor-specific
performance optimizations that take advantage of features in the
latest generation of processors.
- All-new software rasterizers, which enable developers to compare the
visual quality of output on 3-D hardware accelerators to a reference
standard.
- Support for many new hardware features, including single-pass
multitexturing, bump mapping, texture compression, stencil buffers,
w-buffers and much more.
DirectPlay
The new features in DirectPlay include:
- New lobbying services.
- Support for firewalls.
DirectDraw
The new features in DirectDraw include:
- Performance optimizations.
DirectSound
The new features in DirectSound include:
- Performance optimizations for MMX technology in Microsoft Windows
95.
NOTE: These performance optimizations are already included in
Microsoft Windows 98.
DirectInput
There are no new DirectInput features in DirectX 6.0.
REFERENCES
For additional information about how to download and install DirectX, click the article number below
to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q179113 How to Download and Install DirectX
For more information about how to solve problems related to DirectX, use
the DirectX Home Troubleshooter located at the following Microsoft
Web site:
http://support.microsoft.com/support/directx/directx_7.0/tshooter/default.asp
Additional query words:
direct-x dx6