14 DAY TRIAL // DirectX 10 is the latest version of the DirectX suite of multimedia application programming interfaces that Microsoft has built exclusively into its latest operating system, Windows Vista. Gaming enthusiasts will only be able to access DirectX 10 via a combination of one of the latest video cards and one of the editions of Windows Vista.
Well, this is no longer the case, as an independent project is already making DirectX 10 for Windows XP available for download. "I'm proud to release a preview of our DirectX 10 compatibility libraries. These libraries allow the use of DirectX 10 games on platforms other than Microsoft Vista, and increase hardware compatibility even on Vista, by compiling Geometry Shaders down to native machine code for execution where hardware isn't capable of running it. No longer will you have to upgrade your OS and video card(s) to play the latest games," revealed Cody Brocious, Lead Engineer on the Alky Project.
According to Brocious, Alky Project current offerings are just a preview designed to give a taste of the DirectX SDK on Windows XP. However, in the coming months, the project plans to grow from the examples that it has delivered with the present release and to evolve to full games. Currently, the download is available via Falling Leaf Systems, weighing in at 824 KB and contains written instructions on how to install the files. Brocious did promise that a complete installer will be made available in the future.
With Windows Vista, Microsoft has also overhauled the DirectX driver architecture in the operating system. However, Microsoft does not offer backward compatibility with previous Windows platforms for the new Windows Display Driver Model in Vista.
Alky's DirectX 10 Compatibility Libraries Preview is available for download here.