edward, so if i program my game for sidewinder only no mouse or keyboard (which is what i am doing anyway), xbox will run vb and dx7 ok? that would rock! how come there is no doc on xbox or specifications like that? does xbox support dx7?

sirsoriam

Yeah, XBox will run DX7. DX8 contains all the DX7 stuff, too, so games can be backward-compatible.

hello,

well I think Microsoft could make a new DirectX 8 version, since backward compativility is meant for older games that were released when older directx versions were around so, you can still play a game that uses directx 5 with the directx 8 drivers, there are no old xBox games, and I doubt you will be able to run PC games in it so, nothing stops MS to remove the backwards compativility stuff to focus on new stuff and/or free some disk/rom space.

About Windows CE, this windows version is meant for RISC Processors like the Mips found on palm pilots and pocket Pc''s (if I was MS I would had definitelly gone for one of these in the Xbox Like Sony, Nintendo and Sega, but they have aliances with intel so...), and the Xbox will have a pentium processor so, some sort of standard windows kernel is more likely to be in it.

I dont know how are they doing all that they are supposed to be doing, but looking at the specs, you get the idea the Xbox is a cheap PC you hook to the television set (Commodore anyone?), it may not be like this of course, and there is people that say that anyway consoles are computers too, yes they are, but not PC''s per se.

See ya.

Ive heard before that X-Box will be using Pentium 3 650 mhz processor. I know that it has a hardrive factory loaded as well as an ethernet port. With this in mind wouldn''t that make it that much easier to load it up with an OS? From the looks of things this X-box resembles one of those Gateway deals. Microsofts blitzkreig attack on the console industry. Seems to me like Microsoft is looking to replace PC in the home with this little idiot box of theirs. Ive been watching this thing since the beginning and Ive read virtually every preview and technical doc on it. To learn more about it check out the issue of EGM with the X-box cover. Im pretty sure it has the info that your looking for. It shows pics of it (in great detail) with the cover off. I have the issue around here somewhere but would never be able to find it in the collection of junk on my workroom floor.I think it mentioned something about Dev kits in there too.

Is it true that microsoft.net is going to be on the xbox? also does that mean you can use visual studio.net to write xbox games?

FWIW the DX8 on the XBox is somewhat different from the PC version.

hey i jsut wanted to point out.. would you rather have a console WITH features from a pc or a console WITHOUT features from a pc. You lookin like a frickin idiot when you whine "ohhh xbox is jsut a pc" your jsut whining cause you know that xbox has the features that everything else doesnt. please go talk your whining to mommy cause microsoft wont care... Sony, Sega, and Nintendo build thier systems from the input of all the gamer who think they know everything about games. Xbox is built off the input of DEVELOPERS who know waht is good to have and what isnt. No dissin what you cant handle boys, mommy is comin so break out your pacifiers.

Hey now, spelling counts. How do you know that Sega, Sony, and Nintendo don''t build their system with the input of the developers? Microsoft only cares about the developers because without them nobody will buy Microsoft''s products. Anyway, no need to stick up for Microsoft; even if the XBox fails, which would be great for the industry in my opinion, they''re not going broke. And for the record, I would prefer a console WITHOUT features from a PC, for a variety of reasons. (The Pentium 3 wasn''t designed specifically for games like the chips used by Sony, Nintendo, and Sega.) Just remember that talking smack about video game consoles, when you think about it, is a ridiculous thing to do.

To be on topic, no matter how Windows- and DirectX-compatible the XBox may be, compatibility with VB or even VC++ games written for Windows would be too much of a performance hit, so I''m guessing the engineers at Microsoft decided against it. Although somebody managed to port MAME to the Xbox (don''t have the link, unfortunately), so it must be fairly easy to develop for.

What is the difference between a RISC processor and a Pentium processer? And there was a big add for the XBox in PCGamer, and i thought it said that it will have a 10gig hard drive, but i just read on-line that it will have a 8gig hard drive, how big is the hard drive?

Hmm, I''m not sure about whether VB programs will run straight on an XBox, but anything is possible if MS includes enough Windows code

The real reason I posted is because some people have a few misconceptions about VB - Dx7 and Dx8 are both supported, the VB code is like half of the SDK, I''m not sure if anyone noticed that

Peter

Talos Studios
http://talos.togglespin.com