14 DAY TRIAL // DirectX 10 continues to elude Windows XP, which is stuck at DirectX 9 level, but over two years after its introduction with the advent of Windows Vista, the technology is starting to make its way to Linux and Mac OS X. But not courtesy of Microsoft. Instead, Jeremy White, the founder and CEO of CodeWeavers, revealed that DirectX 10 support would come into focus as the company's CrossOver project moved onward into 2009. CodeWeavers develops and serves solutions designed to permit Linux and Mac OS X users to run Windows games and the Office system.
“We've just shipped a lot of those 'under the hood' improvements for games out in CrossOver Games 7.2. We're really pushing Direct X 9 support pretty far along, and getting ready to move on Direct X 10,” White stated. “In the next few months, we'll be shipping CrossOver Linux 8.0, and CrossOver Mac 8.0. That revision of our flagship product will bring support for IE7, modern QuickBooks versions, Quicken 2009 (at a nice speed), Photoshop CS3, and many many other improvements, particularly around Microsoft Office and specifically Outlook.”
Microsoft delivered DirectX 10 as an integral part of Windows Vista. Until this point in time, DirectX 10 has been Vista exclusive, with the software giant refusing to backport it to Windows XP. The upcoming Windows release, Windows 7, brings to the table the evolution of DirectX, namely version 11. The promise from the Redmond company is that DirectX 11 will be offered not only for Windows 7 but also for Windows Vista. However, Windows XP continues to be left out of the DirectX evolution equation.
“After we ship version 8, and make sure we keep Games fresh as well, we're going to turn our focus to our next major revision. In addition to our normal work of broadening and deepening our application support in Wine, we're going to try to dramatically improve the CrossOver GUI itself. First, the Linux version will get a fresh new look. But both versions are going to get an interface that we hope will bring the power of the Compatibility Center right into the installation view. The key idea is to make it easier to distill the gathered wisdom on unsupported applications and make it far easier to use. I hope we'll have that available before the end of the year,” White added.
Grab the CrossOver Games 7.2.0 trial installer right now from Softpedia.