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0 pointsnemothekid2y ago0 comments

DirectX is exclusive to the Windows platform. At this point, it's probably deeply tied into Windows. I don't see how you can make that bet.

0 comments

reroute222y ago

I've no idea exactly how MS licenses uses of DX, but just for context Imagination Technologies just released a custom GPU design that implements DirectX Feature Level 11_0 (which corresponds to earlier versions of DX 12 [1]): https://www.imaginationtech.com/news/imagination-launches-br...

Imagination Technologies is a near 40 year old British silicon IP company that has been doing GPUs for quite some time, just not ones supporting DX up until now, and it has nothing to do with MS (in terms of ownership / rights / etc).

[1] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/direct3d11/o...

monocasa2y ago

The way that works isn't that IMG ships a full directx implementation, but that they ship some kernel and user mode components that plug in to Microsoft's directx implementation such that when taken together, directx is accelerated by IMG's hardware.

Similarly, Microsoft would need to release the non GPU specific bits for macos to fit the same model.

reroute222y ago

Wow, that sounds like a very impressive level of separation of concerns. May I kindly ask for some links for further reading? If you have any handy.

2 more replies

flohofwoe2y ago

DirectX APIs can be emulated on top of other 3D APIs, see Proton on Linux for instance.

Of course the idea of Apple switching from Metal to D3D is rubbish, but a Proton-like solution for macOS totally makes sense (maybe the "Game Porting Toolkit" will be exactly that eventually).

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

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reroute222y ago

[1] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/direct3d11/o...

monocasa2y ago

Similarly, Microsoft would need to release the non GPU specific bits for macos to fit the same model.

reroute222y ago

Wow, that sounds like a very impressive level of separation of concerns. May I kindly ask for some links for further reading? If you have any handy.

2 more replies

flohofwoe2y ago

DirectX APIs can be emulated on top of other 3D APIs, see Proton on Linux for instance.

Of course the idea of Apple switching from Metal to D3D is rubbish, but a Proton-like solution for macOS totally makes sense (maybe the "Game Porting Toolkit" will be exactly that eventually).

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse