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Q191829: DirectX: List of New Features Included in Microsoft DirectX 6.0

Article: Q191829
Product(s): Microsoft Home Games
Version(s): WINDOWS:95
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbref kbimu
Last Modified: 13-JUN-2001

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The information in this article applies to:

- the operating system: Microsoft Windows 95 
- the operating system: Microsoft Windows 98 
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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

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Keywords          : kbref kbimu 
Technology        : kbOSWin98 kbOSWin95 kbOSWinSearch
Version           : WINDOWS:95
Issue type        : kbinfo

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