【 DirectX 】What is it? + How to update it? 2022

Computers running the Windows operating system, They have the particularity of including many exclusive components that allow optimal operation for the reproduction and creation of multimedia content. in 2D and 3D, and one of the most important components is DirectX.

It is a library of programming components through which Windows computers can use multimedia hardware more efficientlyfacilitating both the reproduction of games and the creation of audiovisual material.

Since many users, especially beginners, are unaware of the existence and operation of this Windows componentin this article we are going to teach you everything you need to know about what DirectX is, what you can do with it, and what programs you can use to replace it if necessary.

What is DirectX?

DirectX is a set of Windows components that enables the software to function, mainly when running games, since the DirectX components interact with the audio and video hardware. Games that work by using DirectX have greater efficiency when using computer resourcessuch as multimedia acceleration integrated into the hardware, which leads to an improvement of the multimedia experience

What is DirectX used for?

The goal of DirectX, as a Windows plug-in, is to facilitate the maximum use of resources for the development of multimedia content, especially video games. It works with a IPA, that these are protocols that integrate programs through rules, which means that Windows can optimize your games to run more resource-efficiently.

Benefits of having DirectX updated

The benefits of update DirectX they are the same ones that we see on our computer when updating the other drivers, which translates into a considerable improvement in performance. In the particular case of DirectX, it is a increased efficiency of integration between components and the applications that use multimedia resources, thus causing a lower consumption of resources when running certain games or multimedia programs.

Additionally, the renewal of this API facilitates and improves the processing of tasks related to video and multimediaallowing greater use of the potential of processors, to the point that DirectX 12, its current version, offers an improvement of up to 50% compared to DirectX 11.

All DirectX versions available so far

DirectX is constantly updated to offer a lot of improvements to users. The latest version of this driver is DirectX 12and to get to this version it has gone through a large number of releases and updates.

Which you will see below:

DirectX 1.0: first version released on September 30, 1995
DirectX 2.0: Released in 1996, it only came bundled with some third-party apps.
DirectX 2.0a: released in June 1996, available on Windows 95, OSR2 and NT 4.0
DirectX 3.0a: became available for Windows NT 4.0 SP3 and later versions of Windows NT
DirectX 3.0b: was a minor update intended to resolve a cosmetic issue in the Japanese version of Windows 95, released in December 1996
DirectX 5.2: version 5.2 was used in Windows 95, and in parallel an improved version of 5.2 was created that was used exclusively in Windows 98
DirectX 6.0: version created for Windows CE for the Drachmas in August 1998
DirectX 8.0a: this version, released on November 7, 2000, was the last to have support for Windows 95
DirectX 8.1: released in 2001 released for Windows XP
DirectX 9.0: this version was formalized in December 2002 for Windows Server 2003, as well as versions 9.0a and 9.0b
DirectX 9.0c: this version was compatible with many Windows systems, including XP Windows Server SP1 and Xbox 360. It received bi-monthly updates between 2004 and 2007, and was last released in June 2010
DirectX 10: this version appeared at the end of 2006 and was compatible with Windows Vista and Windows 7, while version 10.1 received additional compatibility with Windows Server 2008
DirectX 11: Improved compatibility for Windows Vista SP2 and Windows Server SP2. Versions 11.1 and 11.2 included improvements to resource management
DirectX 11.3: It was released in 2013 with the same features as previous versions, with the addition of including Xbox One support.
DirectX 12: The latest version was released in 2017 for Windows 10 and has been receiving updates for performance improvements, the latest being in May 2019.

How do I know what version of DirectX I have on my computer?

windows has a general diagnostic tool that will allow you to know many things regarding the status of your equipmentamong which you can find the currently installed versions of drivers such as DirectX.

To do this, follow the steps described below:

Opens the Start Menu on your computer windows
Write “dxdiag” in the search bar and click “Enter”
click in application called “dxdiag” to execute it
Enter the tab “System” in app
At the end of the list of processes and components, you will see the version of DirectX that your computer is currently running.

Learn how to update the version of DirectX on your device

Keeping this driver up to date is a very easy task, if we have the right tools. To make it very simple, just install a program called “DirectX End User Runtimes Web Installer”.

Once this program is installed, you just have to follow this procedure:

Beam click on the application and run it
Gives the administrator permission in the popup window.
Accept the license agreement, and click “Following”
Turn off the option “Install Bing Bar” and select “Following”

By performing this process, the latest version of DirectX will be installed on your computereither it will update if you already have a previous version installed.

Best DirectX Alternatives Out There Today

Although DirectX is optimized to work with Windows, there are a variety of alternatives that can be used insteadwhich are available for various platforms.

There are more than 10 alternatives to DirectX and the most relevant ones are described below:

OpenGL.org

It is the best option to replace DirectX in a large number of operating systems. Its compatibility is very wide, and you can acquire it completely free of chargesince it is a program . One of the applications of DirectX is the development of portable and interactive applications, and this is exactly the area in which OpenGL specializes.

vulkan.org

Is a Cross-platform API created for the creation of 3D programs, such as video games and applications. It works in a similar way to DirectX, except that Vulkan is open source and you can get it for free, which has made it gain some relevance.

Similar to DirectX, Vulkan provides developers with the necessary tools to create 3D video games, applications and programs that are used today, but where Vulkan is free and open source, DirectX is Windows exclusive and closed source.

webgl.org

Is a program library that allows you to enhance the graphics capabilities of supported programs, such as programs and applications, as well as HTML5 web browsers, through the use of JavaScript. In the same way that OpenGL, It is open source and completely free.. It allows the development of low-level 3D graphics, through its OpenGL-based functions.

liballeg.org

Allegro 4 and Allegro 5 are cross-platform component libraries designed to be used in the creation of video games and multimedia programming, allowing the automation of common low-level tasks, such as opening windows, playing sounds, and loading data. The library is free and open source, developed in C languageand allows manipulation of timers, creation of arithmetic routines, and access to the file system.

libsdl.org

are the initials for Simple Direct Media Layer. It is a multiplatform library of multimedia programming developed in C programming language, through which you can access basic functions to perform operation is drawing in 2D. One of its best features is that despite being developed in C, it is compatible with other programming languages thanks to its wrappersamong which C++, Java, Python, Pascal and more languages stand out.