DirectX 9 Enters Third Beta Phase

DirectX 9.0 Beta 3 was made available for download this week, with beta testers receiving notice of the release on Wednesday. The pre-release code is designed to facilitate the creation of DirectX applications based on the upcoming version 9.0 feature set.

DirectX 9.0 most notably adds a new high-level shader language -- based on C -- designed to simplify development.

"Welcome to the Beta 3 release of Microsoft DirectX 9," Microsoft beta coordinators wrote in an e-mail to testers. "We make our beta releases available to a select group of developers and enthusiasts to help us ensure that our final release is stable and secure. Your involvement is critical to this goal."

Both SDK and Web-based runtime install packages may be downloaded by credentialed testers via BetaPlace.

According to release notes that accompany Beta 3, the "SDK has added a new member to its core technology called Managed DirectX, a DirectPlay port for the PocketPC, a High Level Shader Language for D3DX, and Windows XP parity on downlevel operating systems for DirectShow and the DirectX audio APIs."

"DirectShow also has a new Video Mixing Renderer (VMR9) which uses D3D9 surfaces and always renders video through the 3D pipeline, along with new and exciting samples," Microsoft told beta testers.

After issuing Beta 1 last May, Microsoft planned to publicly release DirectX 9 this fall. But sources say a final version is now expected early next year. The Beta 3 code is time limited and will function until January 8, 2003.