DirectX - The Next Episode

In August 2008, MS released their new DirectX SDK (compatible with XP as well as Vista) which includes Direct3D 10. In it there is a new "Games for Windows Branding Tool" to help test games versus "Games for Windows" test requirements.

Here is the home page for DirectX.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/directx/default.aspx

You can't call yourself knowledgeable about Windows programming if you don't know DirectX. The tutorials requires a basic familiarity Win32 programming such as the Windows message loop architecture (translate/dispatch).

DXUT is layer built on top of Direct3D to make tools easier to build. It simplifies the process for creating a "device" and processing Windows messages. Other tutorials focus e.g on creating a wave effect using a vertex shader.

Finally, if you think DirectX is just for games programmers think again. WPF, Microsoft's new GUI technology, renders graphics in DirectX via milcore.dll.