Testers Receive First DirectX 8.1 Beta

Microsoft released the first beta of DirectX 8.1 to testers this evening. According to the software giant, the "beta release focuses on two key areas. The first is a complete integration into the new Windows XP Operating System. The second area of concentration focused on resolving issues found since the release of DirectX 8.0." New features in version 8.1 include support for high precision texture formats, an AppWizard for Microsoft Visual C++ v6.0, and a new nPatch quadratic interpolation order. The final release of DirectX 8.1 will ship with Windows XP, but will also be available separately for Windows 9x, Me, and 2000.