There are still many gamers who have yet to upgrade to Windows Vista. Part of Windows Vista that was most appealing to gamers was DirectX 10 compatibility. DirectX 10 is something you can’t get on Windows XP.

According to AMD when Windows 7 hits market, widely believed to be mid-2009, DirectX 10.1 will be fully supported. According to AMD DirectX 10.1 will be used in the API for the Windows Desktop Manager in Windows 7.

Along with the use in the next generation Microsoft operating system, AMD claims that several games are coming that take advantage of DirectX 10.1. An example is S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky, which AMD says gets 10% higher frame rates on DirectX 10.1 versus DirectX 10. The writing between the lines is that many AMD video cards are DirectX 10.1 compatible whereas NVIDIA parts are not. This will mean NVIDIA owners need a new card to enjoy DirectX 10.1 benefits.

AMD