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ATI, in a recent meeting in London, mentioned that Microsoft won’t release a version of DirectX 10 for Windows XP, instead making it an exclusive Vista feature. This is likely to encourage gamers to upgrade when Vista is made available sometimes in 2007.

This decision has raised the ire of some gamers who feel they shouldn’t have to upgrade their operating system to play a game. EVE Online announced that they will upgrade their popular space MMORPG’s graphic engine to include DirectX 10 features, and Halo 2 will be a Vista-only title.

During a DirectX 10-related event in London, UK, Richard Huddy, ATI Technologies’ software developers relations chief, said that Microsoft’s Vista will integrate DirectX 10 and DirectX 9 APIs for different types of hardware, but the current Windows XP will not get DirectX 10 support, as suggested some rumours earlier. For end users this means that to get the most advantages of the new-generation graphics processing units (GPUs), the new OS will be required.