Direct2D. Purpose Direct2D is a hardware-accelerated, immediate-mode, 2-D graphics API that provides high performance and high-quality rendering for 2-D geometry, bitmaps, and text.
The Direct2D API is designed to interoperate well with GDI, GDI+, and Direct3D. Developer audience Direct2D is designed primarily for use by the following classes of developers: Developers of large, enterprise-scale, native applications.Developers who create control toolkits and libraries for consumption by downstream developers. Run-time requirements Windows 7 or Windows Vista with Service Pack 2 (SP2) and Platform Update for Windows Vista and later.Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2008 with Service Pack 2 (SP2) and Platform Update for Windows Server 2008 and later. Note The Platform Update for Windows Vista and Platform Update for Windows Server 2008 are a set of run-time libraries that enables developers to target applications to Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 2008. Introducing Direct2D. Windows With C++ Introducing Direct2D Kenny Kerr This column is based on a prerelease version of Windows 7.
Details are subject to change. With the introduction of Windows Vista a few years ago, it was clear that the era of the Windows Graphics Device Interface (GDI) was coming to an end. However, if you want to develop high-performance and high-quality commercial applications, you'll still look to C++ and native code to deliver that power. In this article, I will explore these new technologies and give you an idea of why it matters and how you can start using them today. Architecture And Principals On Windows XP, GDI and Direct3D had equal standing as far as the operating system was concerned. So GDI is dead and Direct3D is the future, but where does this leave us and how does this all relate to Direct2D and WPF?
Direct3D is what is known as an immediate mode graphics API. Animated 2D Graphics for UI, Games. 2D Drawing APIs in Windows. Introducing the Microsoft Direct2D API. One of the challenging aspects of working on a product development team is that you often have to keep the subject of your work secret for various reasons. I’m a Dev Lead in the Windows Desktop Graphics organization, and my team has been working quietly for the past year on an exciting new graphics technology – Direct2D –that was announced recently at the Professional Developer’s Conference (PDC) in Los Angeles. Direct2D (or D2D) is a native immediate-mode 2D graphics rendering API that is built on top of Direct3D, and offers some compelling performance and visual quality improvements over GDI and GDI+: · Hardware-acceleration · Software fallback when hardware isn’t available · Interoperability with GDI, GDI+, and Direct3D · ClearType text rendering · Per primitive antialiasing · Device-independent coordinate system · Draw and fill commands for geometries (lines, curves) and bitmaps · Solid color, linear, radial, and bitmap brushes. · Rendering to intermediate layers · Server-side rendering.