by admin on June 17, 2009
With Microsoft DirectX windows technology you are able to experience a very high performance in sound and graphics which highly increases the pleasure of playing games. There are lots of versions which have been released by Microsoft for DirectX and the latest being DirectX 10. A comparison between Microsoft DirectX 10 Vs DirectX 9 will reveal integrated features in both, and their comparative advantages while using for playing games.
DirectX software has at its core, the Application Programming Interfaces which act as a bridge between the hardware and software making both of them understand each other. The advanced features of the high performance hardware such as sound cards, 3d graphics acceleration chips etc. get multimedia application enabled access with the help of Direct X. In other words, Direct X helps you experience better audio effects and 3-D graphics on your computer.
Windows Games are incomplete without the technology of Direct X. A Direct X makes window gaming an experience of a lifetime. It increases the level of realism in the game and adds effects to it like dynamic lighting, weather conditions and much more. All the versions of Direct X are capable of giving an enhanced experience to the person playing games.
A comparison between Microsoft DirectX 9 and DirectX 10 is necessary before you decide whether playing games on DirectX 10 provides you an enhanced gaming experience and more fun than playing on DirectX 9. Although it is true that Microsoft DirectX 10 is the latest bundle of technology which is used for multimedia applications and playing games, yet it is compatible only with Windows Vista. Some even argue that Microsoft DirectX 10 was introduced by Microsoft in order to force users to migrate to Windows Vista from Windows XP platform and make its Windows Vista popular.
However, there is no doubt about the fact that Microsoft DirectX 10 provides a much better gaming experience than DirectX 9 as it comes with many groundbreaking graphics technology. Newly introduced windows games which are designed with DirectX 10 scenario in mind takes full advantage of the generation next graphics technology used here. The dynamics added to the gaming technology helps in uplifting the level of realism in window games.
After adding a Microsoft DirectX 10 you get a world class performance even in games of older versions which were compatible with DirectX 9 and others. Actually the DirectX 10 card makes your PC provide best effects in graphics and sound and give an optimum result in graphics optimized games. Playing a Windows game with Direct X 10 is like adding a turbo charger to your gaming capabilities and getting an experience of a lifetime with Superb Audio and Video qualities.
A better gaming experience is provided by DirectX 10 as compared to DirectX 9 is clear as you can see that with DirectX 10 you can also play the games based on earlier versions such as DirectX 9. This is one of the reasons why more than 10 million users have switched to Windows Vista operating System since January 2007.
You can easily see the improvement in quality of the pictures and graphics when you compare the output produced both from DirectX 9 and DirectX10 as you will clearly see that the output produced from DirectX 10 is far better in graphics and clarity than that in DirectX 9. So, now if you have to choose between DirectX 9 and DirectX 10 for playing games, you know which one to choose.
You can have access to articles in portuguese language from the article section of page Literatura
Roberto Sedycias works as IT consultant for Polomercantil
Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/operating-systems-articles/does-directx-10-provide-a-better-gaming-experience–971420.html
by admin on June 17, 2009
If your computer is slowing down, freezing, sputtering, throwing errors, rebooting for no reason, You might have a registry problem.
Most people think of windows as a single program, it would be better to think of windows as a single product. The windows operating system is actually a bunch of little and not so little programs all working together to achieve a single goal, that gaol is to make the computer easier for you to use. These programs may or may not have been written specifically to work together, they are written by different programmers with different styles and are then basically forced to work together.
The Windows registry Is one of the most important parts of windows, missing corrupt or inaccurate data in the registry can cause any number of problems. For example, an entry in the Windows XP PRO registry tells windows to load a driver or a file at start up from a specific spot, Say c://programfiles/windows/ But you or another program deleted or moved the file to a new location. So when the registry tries to find this file or driver it is not there Sometimes windows will continue to try that same spot thinking that the program or driver will become available. Sometimes windows will just throw an error and keep going, In either case your windows start up will be slower and continue to be slower until you remove this error from the registry. This missing file or program can cause problems later after you boot because windows or some other program or service expects it to be running. Since this file was never loaded it can stop other programs from running or can cause windows to lock up completely.
When you realize that the windows registry (all versions of windows have a registry windows vista, windows XP all variants, Windows ME ,98, 95 and I think even Windows 3.1) can have thousands of entries, My windows XP Pro has
347339 Registry Keys and
452373 Registry Values,
You also realize that it does not take very many errors to slow your system down or cause it to lock up and send you to the infamous BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death).
Do not despair there is something you can do about this, the best thing you can do is get a Registry Cleaner and Optimizer. These are programs that will analyze your registry and remove any bad entries it finds and also remove dead entries and duplicates.
This brings me to something many people will not tell you, there is no one solution or software package that does everything you need to keep windows running at top performance. I use what I call the “Rule of Three”. What is the Rule of three you may ask, Glad you asked, the rule of three is for anything you need to do for windows to keep it running you should have three of, No I am not trying to sell you three registry Cleaner and optimizer programs. Some software packages include a registry cleaner and optimizer right in them and chances are you may already have one or two on your system right now. That being said the rule of three still applies if you want to clean and optimize your windows registry you should use three different programs. Running the same one three times will not do the same thing.
Three programs are necessary because each program will work on a slightly different set of rules and predefined criteria as to what is good and bad in the registry, So each one will find different entries to remove. some registry cleaners and optimizers will have a choice of deep cleaning or normal/safe cleaning, I always recommend the Normal/safe cleaning, no point in risking your registry if you don’t have to.
This is the “and you” part of this article. What does all this mean to you the user?
Your registry will get bad entries no matter how careful you are! You will need to fix these errors. Your computer will run faster and smother with a clean and optimized registry.
Most registry fix, registry clean programs are usually very fast only a couple of minutes each. Run the program/programs once a month or more if you notice problems. Just follow the instructions and recommendations of the software and you should be fine. You can use only one program if you wish but I do always recommend the “Rule of Three”.
Now I bet your wondering, What programs should I get?. Here are three I recommend, but there are thousands out there. Be careful of free software there are some that report false errors and will not clean them until you give the web site your credit card number, I think you can guess what they do after you give them that.
http://www.registryeazyfix.com
http://www.errorfixregtool.com
http://www.Registryfixr.com
Thank you for reading my article, I hope it was of help.
LokinB
I have been messing up computers and consumer electronics since I was 9years old, I quickly learned that if I did not want people to know what an idiot I was that I would have to learn to fix things myself.
That is how I got started.
I do not recommend my path to others.
http://www.registryeazyfix.com
http://www.errorfixregtool.com
http://www.Registryfixr.com
Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/operating-systems-articles/the-windows-registry-and-you-971486.html
by admin on June 17, 2009
So you want to clean your registry? Maybe a friend or your personal computer guru has told you that you need to clean your windows registry to make your pc run better or faster or to fix a problem you are experiencing.
Cleaning the windows registry is never a bad idea. There are hundreds of thousands of entries and keys in the registry, and the chances that there is some bad data in there somewhere are good.
Before we get to cleaning options let me talk a bit about how that bad data can get into your registry to begin with.
Every time you install a program or a new piece of hardware the registry gets updated with new files and locations of files and dll files and instructions telling windows what program or piece of hardware is to be used for certain file types and operations. This is normal and required by almost all software and hardware. One of the ways bad data gets in your registry is when you uninstall a piece of software, most uninstallers are pretty good but almost all will leave some data behind, the manufacturer or publisher thinks maybe you want to re-install the same software package later, so they leave some things in the registry. This usually does not cause a problem, but can build up a lot of useless keys in the registry over time. Another way you can get bad entries into the windows registry is not shutting windows down before turning off your pc. If you shut down your pc without shutting windows down first, the registry could be open and windows could be writing to it at the very moment you turn off your pc, and bingo bango you have a bad entry in your registry. These are just two ways to get bad data in the registry, there are many others, I am sure you can think of one or two yourself, even though the programs have been un-installed and the software is not being loaded, all of the entries in the registry are still loaded. This means that when windows boots it loads the drivers and dll files and checks shortcuts and file extensions as if all that software was still on your system.
You can guess by now that the more the registry has to do the longer it takes for windows to finish booting. Cleaning the registry removes these bad entries and allow windows to boot faster and smother. As the tittle of this article states there are only two basic ways to clean the windows registry. We will cover them quickly so you can decide and move on to actually doing the job warning method one is very dangerous and should only be used if you know what you are doing the first method of cleaning the registry – manual editing using a program all windows pcs have called regedit. If you click the start button then click run, then type regedit in the box and click ok. The windows registry editor program will run and display a window with two panels, on the left side you will see my computer at the very top and several folders below. Clicking any of the folders will open that folder to reveal between dozens and hundreds of other folders, each time you click a folder you go deeper into the registry. If you know where you need to go you can just go right to it by clicking the appropriate folders until you get to the registry entry you want to remove, then just delete the appropriate folder. If you don’t know where you need to go you can click on the edit button and then select find, a popup box will open, type in the name of the software or whatever item you wish to remove, then click find next. The first time it finds an entry that matches your search it will stop and display it, if its what you are looking for the go ahead and delete it. Then click find next until it does not find anymore entries that match your search.
As I said before this is a very dangerous operation, not to you but to your windows registry and pc, if you delete the wrong thing, windows may never boot again. Are you sufficiently scared yet?? Good you should be if you are like most users you have no business manually editing your windows registry.
The best choice for most people me included is method two= third party software.
What you have to do
Step one buy the software.
Step two install the purchased software from step one.
Step three run the software from steps one and two.
Step four follow the instructions and recommendations of the software.
That’s pretty much it, the third party software is going to do a much better job than you could and do it a lot faster and safer than you could as well. Let the power of your computer work for you by using software to solve the problem.
Here are just Three I recommend but there are thousands more out there I am sure.
http://www.errorfixregtool.com
http://www.Registryfixr.com
http://www.Registryeazyfix.com
Thanks for reading my article I hope it was of help.
Lokin Bakshire
I have been messing up computers and consumer electronics since I was 9years old, I quickly learned that if I did not want people to know what an idiot I was that I would have to learn to fix things myself.
That is how I got started.
I do not recommend my path to others.
http://www.Registryfixr.com
http://www.Registryeazyfix.com
http://www.errorfixregtool.com
Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/operating-systems-articles/registry-cleaning-your-two-choices-explained-971495.html
by admin on June 17, 2009
Microsoft, PC World and other large vendors are seemingly obsessed with winning over new users – the ‘one that got away’ strategy. Targeting new users is all very well, but what about the huge majority of people who use PCs every day and although not ‘expert’ – certainly understand how to use them. Even their adverts are cliché ridden, the experts are children and anyone above teen years is presented patronisingly as someone remedial – “Look at me, I just sent an email!”
Facebook has 250 million users and a huge number of them aren’t 7 year-olds, programming the home entertainment system. Most of them are just normal users who’ve been using a computer in the workplace for over 15 years and shouldn’t need to start at the beginning when a new operating system is released.
Touch Screens Have Operational Drawbacks
After Vista, part of me dreads what Microsoft has cooked up in the interim. There was much talk last time about ‘touch-screens’ in the workplace – and Windows 7 has touch support built in. Seriously. Has Bill Gates watched ‘Minority Report’? The computers in that vision of the future, seemingly drew inspiration from the distant past. Tom Cruise physically manhandling linked data on an enormous HUD, like he had a fat-burning DVD to shift. Just doing a few simple queries would have all but the fittest, catching their breath. No – the whole purpose of the mouse and keyboard shortcuts is that they require minimum movement to achieve a task. Switching to a touch-screen suggests aching arms held up to a screen – the amount of input effort would go up, as would errors from keying in. Compared to a mouse pointer or cross-hair, fingers are unwieldy and cumbersome. The Microsoft device that answers this problem is a horizontal screen called Microsoft Surface, which retails between $5-10k. I can’t see it flying off the shelves. The other option is a touch input device, where multiple gesture and pressure points can be clustered – rather like the chords on a piano keyboard. Which is fine – but yet again – the emphasis is to introduce something new and force returning users to start at the beginning again. I don’t want to learn a new input method, in the same way I don’t want to learn how to drive again, every time manufacturers release a new model of car.
Vista Sales Issues
I’m not alone here. Sales of Vista, didn’t so much stall, as never really achieve take off. There is tremendous resistance from users to upgrade, based on two factors. Firstly, that current users understand the idiosyncrasies of XP and know how to get a job done with that OS. Microsoft acknowledged this when the reintroduced it for retail on new PCs, a year after Vista’s release. The second factor is poor feedback from Vista adopters. The layout of files is confusing, finding everything through a ’search’ window is not to everyone’s taste, having to re-affirm every time you run a program that you really want to run it (unless you turn that facility off). In fact – turning off lots of the default features of Vista is the best way to appreciate it. By any stretch of the imagination, this surely does not represent ’successful’ software development?
It’s very easy to criticise, without offering another solution – so what am I proposing?
Solutions
Look at games software manufacturers. One of the reasons they’re so profitable is that they go to enormous lengths to both – entice new users AND pay attention to returning users, experienced in the genre. It’s not just three – beginner, medium and expert levels, but rich and sophisticated multimedia tutorials with interactivity built in (press the flashing button now) that walk you through the interface. Tasks are calved into manageable chunks and there’s a visual roadmap, to show how far you’ve progressed.
When I start using a new operating system I want to bring skills with me. I want my early settings to take note of what I already know and understand that I want to add to this, as I progress. Improvements should be tweaks to tasks, not concept sea-changes. Vista was a harsh business lesson in understanding that the core market of Windows is not the new user, but the competent, returning user. The ‘Without Walls’ adverts support Microsoft’s supposed vision of what users want – software with unlimited potential.
I beg to differ and don’t think this is what users want at all. They want the transition between an upgrade to be as short as possible, with some improved features added. In the same way that someone buying a new Ford has gained a modicum of insight and flair for driving the car, by the time they’ve driven it home from the showroom.
Patrick Seery
Paper Tiger Website Design
for Web Design, SEO.
Further articles @:
My Computing Blog
Copyright © Patrick Seery
You have permission to publish this article electronically, free of charge, on the condition that the author bylines are included, without alteration.
Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/operating-systems-articles/microsofts-vista-sold-poorly-because-it-primarily-focussed-on-new-users-973039.html
by admin on June 17, 2009
Something’s inspired you to go protest. Well, you need a sign. Something clever always gets attention at a protest. Even if you’re not creative, you can make a protest sign that’ll get attention and hopefully inspire.
It doesn’t take more than an hour’s worth of work to create a protest sign or two.
First of all: Try to keep your protest sign as simple as possible – you know know what you’re protesting and the slogan you put on your sign should be about the protest you’re going to. Brainstorm some ideas for slogans or if you’re really at a loss, get on the Internet and hunt around for some ideas. There are lots of bumper stickers to support causes that get a lot of attention and coverage.
Remember this is all about getting attention and you want your sign to be read. You won’t want anything that takes time to read or comprehend and should be able to be read at a distance, so size is important. The best signs will match a relevant image to a short, witty slogan that should not be any longer than 10 – 15 words.
Make a quick trip to the hardware store and purchase the following if you don’t have them already: Posterboard, tape (preferably strong clear packing tape), paint or strong permanent markers, and stencils if you need something fast and don’t trust your drawing skills.
Choose colors for your sign that will stand out on the background. The goal is to be as readable as possible, so mix light words on darker backgrounds and dark words on lighter backgrounds.
Here are some more tips:
If it’s going to be windy: Get thicker pasteboards and/or make a smaller sign.
If you’re short: Consider mounting your sign to a broomstick, paint mixing sticks, or a tall ruler so you can hold it up high in the air.
If it’s going to rain: Cover your sign with plastic, or if you’re really serious about it, get a large vinyl sign made at Kinko’s or a sign shop so you can hold up with your friends.
Another suggestion is to make double-sided
protest signs. This way no matter which way you’re facing, someone can read your sign. The best way is to have two slogans on your protest sign, one on each side.
JunkActivism.com is a resource for funny activism, funny protest reviews, funny protest signs and news in the world of strange and unusual social activism.
Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/operating-systems-articles/social-activism-making-a-protest-sign-973322.html
