Directx SDK January 2006?

Directx SDK January 2006?

• MLamers

  As a developer, I prefer to get the latest features / bugs fixed as soon as possible :)
  
  

• YelenaS

  MS, I hope you know you're giving us developers a headache with all these two-month updates, and maybe our users too. I'd rather see 6-month updates so you can take the time to carefully develop it rather than making it up with 3 updates between that time. Just my 2 cents.
  

• destroy1369

  dxfoo wrote:

  MS, I hope you know you're giving us developers a headache with all these two-month updates, and maybe our users too. I'd rather see 6-month updates so you can take the time to carefully develop it rather than making it up with 3 updates between that time. Just my 2 cents.

  Just goes to show we can't please everybody

  Long ago, our updates came out once every 12-18 months, if not longer.

  Keep in mind, too, that we don't expect you to update your SDK every time we release a new one. Get a new SDK if it includes a feature or bug fix that you need, otherwise there's no harm in sticking with what you have.

  Another thing to bear in mind is that a bug fix cycle can theoretically take up to 4-5 months to get in the SDK (assuming we decide a bug must be fixed in the next available release).

  Here's the scenario:

  1) You download the latest SDK (let's use December's SDK as an example), but let's say you don't notice/post the bug until after you've used it a few weeks (let's say late Jan, like now)

  2) We get the bug report (through newsgroups, these forums, or feedback to directx@microsoft.com) and roll it into our bug triage process.

  3) Triage shows it's too late to get the bug fix into the next SDK (this is often the case....bug discovery/fixes tend to skip releases, since we're already busy with features/fixes found from the prior release. In our case, the Feb SDK is working on new features plus fixes that have come from reports on the October release). So, we target the next one (that would be April's SDK release).

  4) You see the bug fix and can press on.

  So, the updates that are important to _you_ quite often are meaningful twice or three times a year at the most. Even though we release the SDK six times a year.

  Hope that helps. In the end, we seem to have an even mix of people saying we're too fast or too slow (some people want an SDK every month). However, the very large majority of you are quite delighted with bi-monthly SDK releases (based on our feedback).

  
  
  

• pjutard

  thanks to your question.thank you very much.
  
  

• Jonathan Roy

  You can expect DirectX SDK updates in a 2 month cycle.
  Since the last one was in December 2005, you can expect one in February 2006.
  
  I hope this helps.
  Take care.
  
  
  

• Professor

  dxfoo wrote:

  I agree somewhat, although I'd rather see quarter-based releases than two-months.

  As David Weller indicated - if you want 4-6 month releases, skip a couple of updates. I have every update for the last year downloaded - but I never installed Feb/April/June 2005 SDK's. I went from December '04 to August '05 as it suited me best.

  dxfoo wrote:

  Does this mean bigger runtime downloads for our users

  Not that I've noticed. The SDK keeps changing on a 2-month basis, but the actual DirectX runtime hasn't changed in over a year now (iirc). We're technically still on the DirectX 9.0c runtimes.

  The D3DX DLL's, if you use them, or the MDX runtimes, might well fluctuate from release-to-release. You only need to distribute the ones that you built your application against - so it shouldn't really make much odds that they keep getting changed.

  dxfoo wrote:

  more complexity in managing the runtime files (especially for managed developers in keeping track)

  The operating system via DirectSetup should handle whether the correct libraries are installed. You as the developer just needs to make sure that ALL components are distributed with your application and that you call the necessary installer - it'll handle the rest!

  It's nothing special to DirectX development - but if you use any components that aren't guaranteed to be part of the target system(s) then you should distribute it with your application.

  dxfoo wrote:

  would the latest runtime be able to run an older version, say Aug 05's runtime files

  I don't know about this one. I'm not an MDX programmer so I'll leave it for someone else to answer... but for C/C++ programs, you'll need the matching runtimes - installing the Dec '05 D3DX won't support app's built against June '05 D3DX. Although, the new web installer should help alleviate this problem.

  hth
  JAck

  
  
  

• Sergio Sevilla

  I agree somewhat, although I'd rather see quarter-based releases than two-months. A few questions: Does this mean bigger runtime downloads for our users, more complexity in managing the runtime files (especially for managed developers in keeping track), and would the latest runtime be able to run an older version, say Aug 05's runtime files
  
• Directx SDK January 2006?