I had blogged about one of the initial beta releases of Paint.NET 3.5 back in August. Paint.NET 3.5 utilizes DirectWrite in Windows 7 to render text (instead of GDI). As I wrote back in August, DirectWrite is one of the new additions to the DirectX family of APIs in Windows 7 and enables better readability, adds support for a large variety of languages and scripts, and in conjunction with Direct2D provides superior rendering performance for Windows applications.
You’ll notice that with the final release of Paint.NET 3.5 – it brings some new UI changes to the application. This “refreshed” UI takes advantage of Aero in Windows 7 (and in Windows Vista). I happen to be a huge fan of the updated UI.
If you’re looking for a free and powerful application for editing graphics, give Paint.NET 3.5 a try! For a complete list of changes in Paint.NET 3.5 (since 3.36) – see Rick’s blog post.
Just in case you’ve missed it (where have you been?), today is the day the first PCs with Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system and VISION Technology from AMD hit the shelf. Yeah!
Many of us have been looking forward to this day for quite a while. I’ve blogged about the synergy between AMD technology and Windows 7 on a number of occasions before. I’ve talked about how AMD’s latest graphics cards are the only graphics cards on the market to fully support the DirectX 11 API, the API released with Windows 7. And that’s a big deal, because it will enable richer visual experiences and speed up other tasks like converting video files for playback on a portable media player.
I’ve also discussed the importance of a complete PC experience, where hardware and software interact seamlessly so that everything “just works.” With greater usability and an increasingly intuitive interface in Windows 7, your PC works the way you want it to, faster and easier.
I’ve been lucky to be a beta tester for Windows 7, and have personally benefited from a couple of the improvements in particular.
For example with Windows 7, you can drag video to enabled portable media players and transcode the clip automatically. If you’re searching for a file, Windows 7’s integrated search function helps you find what you’re looking for faster than before, even when you only remember a phrase or snippet of what you’re looking for.
And now the wait is over. Today is a culmination of a long effort by Microsoft, and with their new OS, consumers can enjoy a better computing experience right now. Windows 7 is a winner.
This is also a day where consumers can experience VISION technology from AMD – technology which we announced last month. Developed with the goal of enriching users’ digital lives, VISION also helps simplify the PC buying process, by aligning PC models with the ways consumers use their systems. Depending on whether you just want to watch videos and view photos, or create and edit HD movies, VISION helps you easily identify the PC that’s right for you. At a time when consumers have more options than ever, we understand that choice alone does not provide value. The right choice provides value, and VISION helps buyers make the right choice.
From product development to point of purchase, AMD and Microsoft have worked together to ensure a painless decision process and intuitive user experience.
And with Windows 7 on VISION, everyone WINs.
Nigel Dessau Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at AMD
His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such links sites and no endorsement is implied.
As we discussed in our earlier blog, at the core of Windows 7 for the first time is the inclusion of the graphics processing unit (GPU) for computing. The GPU is no longer just for graphics. In Windows 7, the CPU and the GPU create a co-processing environment. As a result, Windows 7 PCs with the right balance of CPU and GPU offer a faster, more visual Windows 7 experience.
NVIDIA’s President and CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang talked about GPU Computing in Windows 7 during a keynote presentation at Computex 2009.
What makes this co-processing possible is one of the most significant additions Windows 7 brings: DirectCompute. DirectCompute enables applications in Windows 7 to take advantage of GPU Computing to accelerate applications. DirectCompute will be distributed as part of the DirectX 11 API and is fully supported by NVIDIA’s current lineup of DirectX 10 GPUs. Murray Vince, General Manager of the OEM Division at Microsoft was at Computex to discuss the new DirectCompute API in Windows 7.
DirectCompute will enable great consumer visual and interactive experiences such as new high-quality video and photo entertainment, simplified ways to interact with your devices, faster, more responsive PCs, and even new realistic gaming effects. DirectCompute is accelerated by today’s 200 million+ DirectX 10 GPUs and future DirectX 11 GPUs.
Below is an example of the co-processing environment (CPU + GPU) in Windows 7 for applications that operate primarily on sequential (or serial) codes, such as email, office applications (like Word), and basic web browsing. In this case, the CPU does the majority of the application processing and the GPU is used to display the graphics on the screen.
The second example below demonstrates the co-processing environment (CPU + GPU) in Windows 7 for applications that take advantage of parallel processing, such as video playback, video editing, video conversion, and PC gaming. In this case, DirectCompute is used to leverage the processing power of the GPU to dramatically accelerate the application processing speed.
Windows 7 is also well positioned to be the new ultimate power gaming platform. Next generation PC Games are moving towards much more dynamic and immersive worlds that literally come to life: walls can be torn down, glass can be shattered, trees bend in the wind, and water flows with body and force. The ability to transform static environments into dynamic, physical worlds is powered by GPU computing. By performing the physics calculations on the GPU, game developers can offer real-time effects that have never been seen before. The following is an example of next generation game effects using DirectCompute to perform a real-time dynamic ocean simulation demo.
The incredible looking wave crests are made possible by using DirectCompute to perform the Fast Fourier transform calculations on the GPU and bring this demo to life. This is a great example of new realism that GPU Computing will bring to next generation games for Windows 7.
DirectCompute will be distributed as part of the DirectX 11 API and is fully supported by NVIDIA’s current lineup of DirectX 10 GPUs.
Windows developers who are interested in learning more about developing with DirectCompute and NVIDIA GPUs can get more information here. Consumers already running a GeForce GPU with Windows 7 can download the new WHQL-certified drivers supporting DirectCompute directly from www.nvidia.com/drivers.
We look forward to showing more examples of the power of GPU Computing and DirectCompute.
Chris Daniel Product Manager for Software at NVIDIA
The Paint.NET Team has announced the v3.5 of Paint.NET will use DirectWrite on Windows 7 for rendering text. DirectWrite is part of Windows 7’s text rendering enhancements. Very cool!
DirectWrite is one of the new additions to the DirectX family of APIs in Windows 7. DirectWrite enables better readability, adds support for a large variety of languages and scripts, and in conjunction with Direct2D provides superior rendering performance for Windows applications. Applications can also use DirectWrite with GDI and carry forward existing investments in the Win32 code base. You can read more about DirectWrite here.
You can download an alpha build (build 3509) of Paint.NET v3.5 here. Please be warned that alpha builds are pre-beta quality and will likely have issues. But if you want to play around, give it a try.
Two security bulletins, from December 2007 and from June 2008 respectively, affecting the DirectX components of a wide range of Windows operating systems including Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows XP service Pack 3, have been updated.
According to Microsoft, the modifications were designed to simply add DirectX 9.0a on the list of impacted DirectX versions. The pair of patches are set up to resolve no less than four security vulnerabilities and both security bulletins are labeled with the maximum severity rating from Microsoft: Critical.
Released initially on December 11, 2007, Security Bulletin MS07-064 plugs security holes in DirectX 7.0, 8.1, 9.0 and 10.0 running on Windows 2000, Windows XP SP2, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Vista RTM. One of the security issues is related to a DirectX Code Execution Vulnerability Parsing SAMI Files while the remaining one deals with a DirectX Code Execution Vulnerability Parsing WAV and AVI Files.
"This critical security update resolves two privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft DirectX. These vulnerabilities could allow code execution if a user opened a specially crafted file used for streaming media in DirectX. If a user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights," Microsoft informed.
As far as Security Bulletin MS08-033 is concerned, Microsoft also patched vulnerabilities in all the DirectX and Windows versions mentioned above, but also in XP SP3, Windows Vista SP1, and Windows Server 2008. The company resolved a MJPEG Decoder Vulnerability and a Format Parsing Vulnerability. "This security update resolves two privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft DirectX that could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted media file," the Redmond giant stated.
As you undoubtedly know by now, Windows Vista brought to the table DirectX 10. Microsoft failed to make DirectX 10 available for Windows XP, arguing that it would have to introduce extensive changes to the core of the operating system, in order to accommodate the new graphics technology. In this context, Vista became the vessel for DirectX 10, because despite various promises from third-parties to artificially backport DirectX 10 for Windows XP, the latest Windows client remains the sole way to access the superset of DirectX 9.x.
Microsoft touted a healthy increase in gaming and multimedia quality with DirectX 10 as an integer part of Vista’s architecture, but with the vast majority of users still running Windows XP, digital content is largely focused on Vista’s predecessor. The Redmond company was in fact
criticized by both content producers and end users for its decision to make DirectX 10 Vista exclusive, but the barrage of fire failed to deter Microsoft from its tracks. Moreover, in the first quarter of this year, Windows Vista SP1 will deliver DirectX 10.1. (more…)
