DirectX 10 has alot on the drawing board, but there is nothing truely solid yet. Remember most of this is still just ideas, Microsoft have had big plans for each Windows and DirectX incarnation that have never ended up being seen to the public.
So try to remember thier aim is oftenly out of thier compatibility reach.
DirectX9 has set the standard for most of the next generation cards, however like the GeForceFX; nVidia's next generation is also shaping exactly how DirectX10 will look, perform and is capable of.
The main branch is actually the fact that nvidia will be leaving graphics cards soon, this isn't to say that they're stopping making processors ... just the cards.
What exactly does that mean? And what does that have to do with DirectX10?
Well if anyone remembers the early 386 Models, you were capable of installing larger Ram Sets on thier board and were even capable of installing CoProcessor Boards.
This is what will shape the 6th & 7th Generation of Cards from them; as Shaders are becomming more common and infact are the eventuallity, rather than giving the user more boundry between the GPU and the Graphics APi as was Direct3D's first mandate to bridge the gap with understable interfaces. What nvidia are doing is actually putting this gap back in, we've already seen the assembly level of graphics manipulation. Cg 2.0 however stands to give the users 100% Independant Control of the Graphics Processing Units.
We're not talking the level of what shaders currently have, we're talking the exact same control you have over your x86 processor.
Only one hell of alot easier to use due to it's RISC and new ARM architecture.
DirectX10 will finally bring to the table almost a decade after it was first created, what developers have been after all along.
Real Control.
^_^ but yeah from a programmers point of view, maybe DirectX's setup now to how it was might seem like a backward step. Except now you have the fully APi, plus fully control.
Not to mention all the abilities of the CPU, specially designed for 3D interpretation.
however you look at it, IBMC's are changing and in a BIG way.
Detonating a nuclear device within the city limits results in a $500 fine!
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