Gamers should be happy to know that DirectX 10 has been quietly introduced to the public, and comes with a pre-release of Direct3D 10. Microsoft has released the latest version of the development tool which has a whooping download size of 326Mb. (Grab it here)

The kit comes with a few extra tools which include Microsoft's Windows Game Explorer. This allows developers to add auto-updating features and parental controls to their games.

Microsoft's upcoming Vista also plans to use DirectX 10 along with DirectX 9. They will plan on using both kits simultaneously. But users should take the good news with a grain of salt since they won't really be able to take full advantage of DirectX 10.

According to Rudolph Balaz, a Microsoft developer for Direct3D and OpenGL, DirectX 10 will only work with the new operating system. Support for Windows XP is not planned at this time. DirectX 9 compatible graphics cards will be required for the new operating system scheduled for the end of next year.

The DirectX Software Development Kit published on Tuesday also contains updates to tools, utilities, samples, documentation, and runtime debug files for x64 and x86 platforms. A pre-release of Microsoft Cross-Platform Audio Creation tool is included as well as Managed Direct Code (2.0 CLR).