DirectX 11 will feature a host of new changes, but still be backward compatible.

Last week at XNA Gamefest developers conference, Microsoft announced DirectX 11 which is tipped for being launched as part of next generation Windows 7.

Microsoft is cited as claiming DirectX 11 will be important for not only PCs but console platforms as well - possibly leading the way to a uniform ground between the entire gaming race, lowering development costs but making ports between PC and consoles ever more common.

TGDaily had a chat with Kevin Unangst, Senior Global Director of Windows Gaming at Microsoft, who clarified a few points for the future:

• Games for Windows Live will be free for Windows users and developers
• Marketplace will come to Windows Live this Autumn
• Marketplace will offer the ability to distribute not only trailers, featured content but games too (just like Steam) however freely available games can be put on Marketplace free of charge
• DirectX 11 will be backward compatible with DirectX 10 and 10.1, like 9 was with 8, 7, 6 etc. This means that those who own Vista and don't want to upgrade to Windows 7 will still be able to get the benefits of the latest DirectX.
• DirectX 11 will better support multi-core and multi-threading machines so existing hardware will be better off.
• Tessellation will also be introduced and will work on DirectX 10, 10.1 and 11 hardware - this means those with ATI HD 2000, 3000 and 4000 series cards will see benefits from DirectX 11 because they currently support this feature.

Full article @ http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/08/01/directx-11-optimises-for-multithreading-and-gpgpu/1