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DirectX 11
According to a confidential source, Microsoft has decided to switch to ray-tracing in DirectX 11. They also plan to have DirectX 11 ready in time to debut with Windows Vista Service Pack 2. To do that, they have also decided to base it on the x86 architecture and Intel's ray-tracing engine. There are rumours that Intel did more than just "suggest" it to Microsoft, but that's another story altogether. 
As DirectX 11 is a work in progress, Microsoft does not have an exact timeline. But the source claims that DirectX 11 could be part of Windows Vista by late 2008. Development is expected to be very short as much of the work had already been done by Intel. Coincidence? 
Support for Ray Tracing |
DirectX 11 Mode |
||
Operating System |
Application |
Hardware |
|
Yes |
No |
No |
Mode A (Raster) |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Mode A (Raster) |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Mode A (Raster) |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Mode B (Ray Trace) |
You need not worry about your old raster-based DirectX 10 or older games or graphics cards. DirectX 11 will continue to support rasterization. It just includes support for ray-tracing as well. There will be two DirectX 11 modes, based on support by the application and the hardware (see table on the right).
Obviously, DirectX 11 would be a great boon to everyone, especially Microsoft and Intel. AMD and ATI would come out pretty well too. But NVIDIA might be in some trouble.
As the ray-tracing component of DirectX 11 will be designed around the x86 architecture, Intel and even AMD-ATI would have no problem coming up with processors and graphics cards that support DirectX 11. NVIDIA, on the other hand, will have to start from ground up or licence some technologies from Intel or buy up VIA's x86 team (ex-Cyrix). Obviously, they cannot do any business with AMD!
What will NVIDIA do? Well, that's something to watch out for. We are pretty sure that NVIDIA would have heard of Microsoft's decision to use Intel's work as the basis for DirectX 11 by now. We bet those guys are scrambling to come up with a solution. With that said, DirectX 11 and ray-tracing are still months away from reality. NVIDIA may have been caught with their pants down, but one can still do a pretty good shuffle even if one is not fast enough to pull up the pants to run.
Let's take a look at what some industry reps have to say about DirectX 11 and its support for ray-tracing.
Ray Tracing To Debut In DirectX 11 |
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Background information on ray tracing and how the industry evolved to see ray tracing as something more than just a tool for the 3D animation/movie industry. |
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Details on DirectX 11 and its ray-tracing component. Includes details on compatibility with raster-based applications and hardware. |
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Commentary on ray-tracing and DirectX 11 by representatives from companies like Intel, AMD, ATI, NVIDIA and Microsoft. |
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