Free Multimedia APIs from MicrosoftDirectX is a free collection of APIs (application programming interfaces) for programming graphics and audio. This allows developers, especially game developers, to easily create complete games running on Windows. Most users will not even notice that DirectX works - it only runs when it needs to without telling. Interacting with it otherwise is a bit more complicated and will need programming tools to control sound and graphics (function () {('review-app-page-desktop');}); DirectX is a technical tool that helps game developers interact with sound and graphics cards. Although it can be installed on any computer, most users will never need it. It runs when you play a game made with DirectX and that's it. You only need to get to know it better if you want to program it yourself. It has one of the most agile runtime processes in this category. What is DirectX used for? DirectX is a set of Windows interfaces. Developers program to the DirectX API, which allows their programs - often games - to interact properly with sound and graphics cards. In turn, manufacturers of audio and video cards recognize DirectX, so they know what to do when a program with DirectX has access to its features. Already have DirectX? Since DirectX does not have an interface like other apps (it does not, for example, appear in your app list), you need to be a little more technical to check if it is already installed on your computer. To check, follow these steps: Click Start, and then click Run Type dxdiag, and then click OK. On the System tab, note the version of DirectX that appears in the DirectX version line. Check the version information for each DirectX file on the different tabs. When you have finished checking the file versions, click Finish DirectX Installation If you find that DirectX is not installed on your computer (or that the version is very old), you must download DirectX again to use it. The download is simple and how to expect - you download and run .exe as normal. Installation is slow, which can be a bit frustrating and - beware - the app tries to install Bing during installation. How to open the DirectX control panel? Since DirectX is not a regular app, you cannot open it in the usual way. Instead, press the Start button and type dxdiag in the box. Your computer will ask you if you want to run DirectX. The window that opens is a very traditional Windows interface. All the information it provides is just informative - lots of details about your system, screen settings, playback features and drivers, audio information and current input devices. You do not interact with this information - there is an error window and if you program and make a mistake, the error is displayed here. You go back and fix it and the error disappears. Who needs DirectX? There are two situations where you may need DirectX. If you play games on your computer that require DirectX to work. You may already have it. If you program things that need access to audio and video cards, you may also need DirectX.

It is worth noting that DirectX is not the only tool of its kind. There are other APIs that interact with graphics cards, and many of them are more modern.You can compare this to a valid app like Runtime. That said, if you play or develop certain games or on some (probably older) machines, you may well need technical tools that usually require DirectX to be a solid technology that has been around for years and it is still going strong. Graphics and audio technology work very well (which is why it is still relevant even if it is very old), and the interface is very useful, even if it is very old-fashioned. But most of us will never see it - unless you program, you don't even have to open it, because it will just run in the background without you noticing. DirectX is not really the type of software you want or don't want. If you need it, you have to install it and it's a pretty painless experience. Recent Changes The latest version of DirectX improves Windows 10 compatibility and adds Variable Rate Shading (VRS) support. Other new versions have added DirectX Raytracing support, depth limiting testing and programmable MSAA.