What is DirectX 10?
DirectX is a suite of multimedia application programming interfaces (APIs) that is used to enhance the gaming and multimedia experience of computer users. Since its introduction a few years back, the technology has undergone a number of changes. These changes have lead to the introduction of several DirectX versions over the years, each superseding the other in terms of features and graphical & multimedia capabilities. The latest version of DirectX is DirectX 10 that comes built-in with Windows Vista operating systems. It is an integral part of the Windows Vista operating system, and therefore, it is not possible to remove DirectX 10 from Windows Vista.
Note: The last DirectX version supported by Microsoft of Windows XP operating system is DirectX 9.
Features of DirectX 10
In DirectX 10, three-dimensional (3-D) graphics-rendering has been considerably enhanced to improve the performance of your system while running high-end 3-D and gaming applications. Equipped with the much improved features of DirectX 10, your games are empowered to present a new generation of visual effects that contain much more visual detail per frame than you would have ever seen before.
In addition to incorporating a standard 3-D development platform in Windows-based computers, DirectX 10 also helps gaming and multimedia developers to have access to powerful hardware features without having to write complex hardware-specific codes. And, as a result, all gaming and video enthusiasts are promised high-end graphical and visual features while playing games on their Windows computers.
Different Parts of DirectX 10
DirectX 10 can be divided into three parts-Direct3D, DirectDraw, and DirectSound.
Direct3D is designed to establish a powerful link between your PC’s video adaptor and the applications with which you can create 3-D objects and 3-D animations. On high-end computers that enable faster animation processing, Direct3D enables more realistic 3-D objects with enhanced light and motion in animations to be displayed on your PC’s monitor.
You can incorporate 2-dimensional (2-D) visual effects using DirectDraw. Various programs installed on your PC and the video adaptor use the DirectDraw part of DirectX 10 to communicate with each other before sending the final visual image to the display monitor. DirectDraw is popularly used in several computer games, 2-D graphic software programs, and many Windows features.
DirectSound helps in establishing a communication link between the various multimedia software programs, such as gaming and video programs and soundcard of your PC. It helps in enhancing the audio performance and audio effects on your Windows PC. Backed by DirectSound, you can incorporate several subtle effects during audio mixing and playback.
How to find the DirectX version installed on your computer
As discussed earlier, the latest DirectX version available today is DirectX 10, which is an integral part of the Windows Vista operating system. As it is not possible to remove DirectX 10 from Vista, and because currently there is no upgrade available, you are quite likely to have DirectX 10 on your Vista computer.
However, if you want to confirm the DirectX version on Windows Vista or older Windows operating systems, perform the following steps:
- Run the dxdiag command to open the DirectX Diagnostic Tool dialog box on your Windows computer.
- On the System tab, in the System Information section, check the version number of DirectX on your computer.