It is time to say "so long" to DirectX 8 hardware.
Early this year I posted a question: Is it time to say "so long" to DirectX 8 hardware? Along with that I discussed why I was raising the question. It turns out that Microsoft has essentially forced the answer. In a recent update to their DirectX SDK, they have removed support for a critical technology that allowed us to maintain a level of support for DirectX 8 hardware. Because of this, the October 2007 Edition of SSP will require DirectX 9 hardware for any use of high-end graphics features.
The term "high-end" graphics features generally means visualizations, 3D transitions and animations, and advanced image processing effects (RipFX). Other more basic features like video motion backgrounds, soft shadows, and simpler effects do work without DirectX 9 hardware, but performance is may be an issue.
Fortunately, requiring DirectX 9 hardware is not the issue that it was back when high-end graphics features were first introduced into SSP in 2003 . Any recent computer is likely to have a DirectX 9 hardware, and upgrading to a DirectX 9 video card is fairly inexpensive now.
(BE119)