DirectX 7 Main Page

November 13, 1998

At 8pm EST tonight, Microsoft e-mailed account information to all new DirectX 7 testers. The account will be used to access Microsoft's Premium DirectX site, in order to download DirectX betas. DirectX 7 testers were also invited to test the new DirectX 6.1 RC0, which we posted on earlier this week. DirectX 6.1 is scheduled for release around Christmas, so Microsoft hopes to get feedback by Thanksgiving. One of the major components in DirectX 6.1 will be the focus on DirectMusic, which was only a beta in DirectX 6. Also, DirectX 6.1 will be compatible with Windows 2000 drivers.

If you didn't get an e-mail yet and you sent in your DirectX 7 NDA, contact directx@microsoft.com and find out why. After DirectX 6.1 finishes up, DirectX 7 testers will receive information on how to access the beta newsgroups. DirectX 7 is scheduled for release in quarter two of 1999, so we may even see DirectX 7 Beta CDs sent out as early as Janurary.(Source- BetaNews.com)

November 9, 1998

Microsoft has finally broken word about DirectX 7. This is a big relief for all of you out there sitting for months with no word on the matter. Everyone who recieved and returned your DirectX 7 NDAs will be sent passwords to the DirectX Premium site late next week.(Source- BetaNews.com)

October 20, 1998

If your interested in being a beta tester for the DX 7.0 beta program send an email to directx@microsoft.com.(Source- Windows 98 Central)

September 16, 1998

It is rumored that Beta testers of IE 5(before it came out on the SBN) will get a DirectX 7 Beta CD in January.

September 7, 1998

DirectX 7 Beta will ship in January 1999(Source-Windows98 JoteSite).

More DX 7

Fahrenheit: The Codename for the next version of DirectX

The new capabilities, features, and interfaces in Fahrenheit probably will be more revolutionary than the traditional DirectX updates released so far.
The functionality of Open GL will be integrated into the DirectX architecture.
Fahrenheit will include a new API for scene-graph technology.
A major part of the Fahrenheit project is an update of the low-level APIs in DirectX (i.e. DirectDraw and Direct3D)

Check out MSDN's interview for more information and news about the future of Microsoft's Multimedia APIs.