Microsoft's free DirectX SDK, used to access 3D accelerators, sound cards and input devices through a unified interface. Includes Managed DirectX for .NET 1.1 as well as the new Managed DirectX for .NET 2.0.
DirectX consists of:
- DirectGraphics, often still referred to as Direct3D, this part of DirectX is responsible for anything that has to do with graphics, like bitmap blitting, polygon rasterization and management of resources such as shaders and textures.
- DirectSound is a low-latency interface to the system's sound card drivers. Has the ability to transmit basic data about the positions of sound sources to the sound card for 3D sound processing.
- DirectInput is a low-level interface to the input devices connected to your computer. Includes the ability to play back force feedback effects on capable hardware.