Coming: A Better Multimedia Platform

Dave Andrews

Windows 95 includes numerous multimedia technologies, such as 32-bit video codecs, integrated MIDI and WAV audio, and support for enhanced audio CDs. But users will have to wait for other enhancements.

The first release of Windows 95 lacks a number of 3-D- and multimedia-related technologies, including OpenGL; support for hardware-assisted, full-motion video acceleration; and the Windows 95 game subsystem, among others. The lag time between the first release of Windows 95 and the appearance of additional multimedia capabilities could range from one to several months ( see the table ).

One key element that's missing from Windows 95 is support for full-motion video acceleration. This feature is missing because Microsoft removed support f or the Display Control Interface (DCI) from Windows 95 earlier this year due to stability issues, according to company officials. Version 2 of DCI, which was to have incorporated several technologies for games and video-hardware acceleration, was replaced by the Direct series of APIs and the Windows 95 game subsystem.

Since DCI is not supported in Windows 95, and final code for implementing the Direct APIs wasn't slated to ship until late September, users will have to wait at least a month before new cards from such companies as Matrox, ATI Technologies, and Number Nine Visual Technology will be able to accelerate full-motion video movies in Windows 95. "Microsoft's road map for video acceleration has been quite wobbly," says an official at one hardware-acceleration company. "However, the situation should be sorted out by this fall."

Microsoft's plans for 3-D in Windows 95 have evolved, too, as the company is rolling out two new APIs to complement OpenGL. One new 3-D API, called RealityLab, is exp ected to enter general beta testing in September and ship commercially in 1996.

RealityLab, which Microsoft received when it acquired London-based RenderMorphics earlier this year, is a cross-platform, high-level, real-time API. The first applications written to another API, called Direct 3-D, could ship later this fall.

David Britton, group marketing manager for Windows 95 multimedia, says RealityLab is for developers who want to write consumer, business, and some virtual-reality applications using a high-level API. Direct 3-D, meanwhile, targets a different type of developer -- one "who wants to get every ounce of speed and performance from the system," Britton says. Thus, Direct 3-D should appeal to developers of high-paced action games. The target market for OpenGL, which is currently available for Windows NT 3.51 and slated to ship for Windows 95 next year, is still high-end professional CAD and modeling applications. Some vendors wonder if OpenGL will ever ship for Windows 95.

Microsof t's Britton says the company will continue to improve upon Windows 95's multimedia capabilities. "You have two waves here," he says. "The first release of Windows 95 already has a faster GDI [Graphical Device Interface], 32-bit video, and other enhancements. And then, starting in September, a whole new suite of software will come out; we'll be supercharging Windows 95."

Until that happens, however, perhaps the fairest grade to give Windows 95's multimedia support is an I , for incomplete.

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Future Windows 95 Multimedia Schedule

Component        Comment                          Due Date
===============================================================================
Software MPEG    Will allow about 24 frame-per    Undetermined.
  playback        second playback of CD-ROM MPEG
                  movies on high-end Pentium-
                  based PCs.

Windows 95 Game  Allows programs written to the   First version, to be
Subsystem
         Direct series of APIs (e.g.,     distributed by independent
                  DirectDraw) to execute under     software developers with
                  Windows 95.                      their applications, may ship
                                                   in late September. Time 
                                                   frame for inclusion in 
                                                   Windows is undetermined.

DirectDraw,      Games and multimedia APIs that   The first applications and
DirectSound,      allow hardware-accelerated 2-D   drivers for hardware-accel-
DirectPlay,       video, high-performance sound,   erator cards could appear in
DirectInput APIs  networked multiuser support,     late September.
                  and digital joysticks.

Direct 3-D       Driver interface for hardware    Expect applications and
device driver     developers that lets boards      drivers for hardware to
interface         accelerate multiple 3-D APIs     begin appear
ing this fall.
                  used by software developers.

Direct 3-D       Low-level API for software       The first Direct 3-D applica-
                  developers, especially those     tions might appear this
                  developing games, who want       fall.
                  fast 3-D performance.

RealityLab 3-D   High-level, real-time 3-D API    Expected to enter broad beta
API               for developers writing           testing in September. Expect
                  consumer, business, and          final code and the first
                  virtual-reality applications.    applications in the first
                                                   quarter of 1996.

OpenGL           High-end 3-D API for developers  Available now in Windows NT
                  writing professional CAD,        3.51, but Windows 95 avail-
                  modeling, and other engineering  ability is slated for 1996.
                  applications.

Surround Video   A 360-degree multimedi
a          Undetermined.
                  environment (for more informa-
                  tion, see "See You Around,"
                  May BYTE).