Windows Graphics Foundation 2.0

[russo121]

Sorry if this information is already in the forums but I didn't know that WGF 2 = DX10 and not WGF 1.0

According to Clubic FR http://www.clubic.com/actualite-17464-quand-ati-nous-en-apprend-plus-sur-longhorn.html

 

[Dave Baumann]

Beyond3D News, 16 Sep 2004: "More Longhorn DirectX Name Shifting?" - its like we predict the future or something!

To be fair, there is still some confusion as to whats what, and things are still likely to change. Only the week before I was having an argument with Richard Huddy about what the different versions were going to be and, indeed, the slides that he had in his presentation later in the same day where the above slides were given still refer to "DirectX Next" as WGF1.0.

One other thing to note is that at this present time I don't believe that XP will recieve any WGF capabilites, you'll have to move to Longhorn.

 

[russo121]

Beyond3D News, 16 Sep 2004: "More Longhorn DirectX Name Shifting?" - its like we predict the future or something!

To be fair, there is still some confusion as to whats what, and things are still likely to change. Only the week before I was having an argument with Richard Huddy about what the different versions were going to be and, indeed, the slides that he had in his presentation later in the same day where the above slides were given still refer to "DirectX Next" as WGF1.0.

One other thing to note is that at this present time I don't believe that XP will recieve any WGF capabilites, you'll have to move to Longhorn.

I just hope the base for Longhorn will not be WGF2 or everybody will need to buy a dx10 class.

 

[Dave Baumann]

I'd say that at this point in time the base is going to be DX9 - Avalon requires a DX9 capable card, so its a safe bet to say that vast majority of Longhorn PC's will have at least DX9 graphics; WGF2.0 will still have the backwards compatibility elements as well.

 

[BRiT]

I just hope the base for Longhorn will not be WGF2 or everybody will need to buy a dx10 class.

Actually I hope that the base will be WGF2/DX10. The higher the better. This should allow for game developers to step it up a notch in the visuals department...

 

[MrGaribaldi]

I just hope the base for Longhorn will not be WGF2 or everybody will need to buy a dx10 class.

Actually I hope that the base will be WGF2/DX10. The higher the better. This should allow for game developers to step it up a notch in the visuals department...

Indeed, it would be nice to see devs able to focus on future hardware and not 2 y.o. tech....

 

[russo121]

I just hope the base for Longhorn will not be WGF2 or everybody will need to buy a dx10 class.

Actually I hope that the base will be WGF2/DX10. The higher the better. This should allow for game developers to step it up a notch in the visuals department...

If R520 gets out 1Q/2Q 2005.. Longhorn 2006... and I don't think R520 and will have dx10, neither cheap, it's lifetime (R520) will be short.

 

[Mark]

Well, it's not like everyone is going to jump on the Longhorn bandwagon immediatly. Game devs and IHVs will still have to support DX9 class hardware and WinXP users for quite some time to come.

Incidentally, I much prefer "DirectX Next" to "WGF". It just sounds way cooler

 

[BRiT]

Incidentally, I much prefer "DirectX Next" to "WGF". It just sounds way cooler

Same here. "WGF" just doesn't have the same ring as "WTF".

 

[BRiT]

If R520 gets out 1Q/2Q 2005.. Longhorn 2006... and I don't think R520 and will have dx10, neither cheap, it's lifetime (R520) will be short.

I figure Longhorn wont be out til the tail end of 2006. Giving it a 6 to 9 month pickup, it's possible for the R520 to be out for a solid 12 - 21 month lifespan. That's plenty long in my book. But instead the reality of the situation will be Nvidia FX-5200 and other uber-low-end DX9 cards from 2003 owners will be bitching about how Longhorn is dog slow on their system. They will probably even start petitions complaining to Nvidia about how they were misled. They may even blame MS programmers, saying they suck since the mighty Doom3 programmers can make their cards fly.

 

[Rys]

One other thing to note is that at this present time I don't believe that XP will recieve any WGF capabilites, you'll have to move to Longhorn.

I was under the distinct impression that XP would get Avalon backported, along with WGF 1.0, before Longhorn.

I really need to renew my MSDN subscription and keep on top of it all.

 

[carpediem]

Dave, have you had any information to if the Graphic cards with Avalon enabled with, indeed run in 3d mode all the time? This would probably mean VERY loud fans on current cards, no?

 

[K.I.L.E.R]

It will also mean craploads of resources being eaten just to run the desktop.

I'd rather run stuff from the command line.

 

[Tim Murray]

Waitaminute... WGF1.0 was formerly a variant of DX9... so does that make it DX9.1?! </digsignal>

 

[Richard]

One other thing to note is that at this present time I don't believe that XP will recieve any WGF capabilites, you'll have to move to Longhorn.

I was under the distinct impression that XP would get Avalon backported, along with WGF 1.0, before Longhorn.

I really need to renew my MSDN subscription and keep on top of it all.

Since developers asked so much MS decided to port it over to XP (and 2003 I'd imagine) but just for compatibility, you won't get the cool 3d effects (that's a longhorn exclusive). It's just that by spreading avalon to XP, developers can begin planning for it and their future apps will run on XP/2003/Longhorn seamlessly.

P.S. A caveat, first Avalon would be longhorn only, now it's being ported to XP, it could be that in a year MS decides to give XP the same 3d desktop capabilities as longhorn --- though I doubt MS would waste such a "good" upgrade reason.