DirectX 11 - Future Successor for DirectX 10

DirectX 11 , the successor of DirectX 1o has been shared by Microsoft on GamesFest event. This is the first time Microsoft reveal DirectX 11 development information and the advance graphic features about DirectX 11. Meanwhile, Microsoft also confirm that DirectX 11 will be fully supported for Vista and the upcoming Windows 7.

On DirectX 11, windows user will enjoying the “new compute shader technology” which allow Graphic Processor unit perform more than just 3D graphic. Meanwhile,  this new computer shader technology allow graphic developer take advantage of the graphics card as a parallel processor which the past Direct3D APIs have had some constraints put on developers in order to achieve optimal rendering performance.

Beside that, a DirectX 11 features that support tessellation also introduced. This DirectX graphic feature able to assist developers in making models appear smoother when seen up close. Multi threaded graphic resource handling will incorporated inside the DirectX 11 API to allow computer games to utilize multi-core processors in a user’s machine.

Here is some point form that provided by Microsoft regarding DirectX 11 features and development:

• Full support (including all DX11 hardware features) on Windows Vista as well as future versions of Windows
• Compatibility with DirectX 10 and 10.1 hardware, as well as support for new DirectX 11 hardware
• New compute shader technology that lays the groundwork for the GPU to be used for more than just 3D graphics, so that developers can take advantage of the graphics card as a parallel processor
• Multi-threaded resource handling that will allow games to better take advantage of multi-core machines
• Support for tessellation, which blurs the line between super high quality pre-rendered scenes and scenes rendered in real-time, allowing game developers to refine models to be smoother and more attractive when seen up close

However, the launches of DirectX 11 still not confirm yet and Microsoft is expecting will release more DirectX 11 features and technology in the future. Plus more, is the graphic devices manufacturer can fast enough to benefit from the potential graphical improvements offered by the new DirectX 11 API ?

It’s still remain a question mark for the DirectX 11 development.