homepage Forums Air Combat & Civil Aviation Jane's F-15 & F/A-18 Should I Get DirectX 9.0b?

I have Windows 98SE, 32MB NVIDIA geFORCE 256 Bus Type: AGP Graphics card with 29.42 drivers, Sound Blaster Live! Value audio card from Creative, and Dell Dimension XPS T700MHz Pentium III MiniTower Base w/MMX Technology & 256K Cache.

The only sims I play now are Jane's F/A-18 and Falcon 4 SP3. I will probably also fly F4 SP4, SP5, etc. when they come out, and, depending on how good it is, I will probably fly LOMAC.

Right now I have DirectX 8.1

When I started my computer today, instead of my home page, I got the Windows Update page that showed as a "critical update" DirectX 9.0b.

The DirectX 9.0b info says, "DirectX 9.0b improves the graphics, security, and performance of your operating system."

In the DirectX 9.0b FAQ, it says the following:

"It does not hurt to install DirectX 9.0. Some of the new functionality built into DirectX 9.0 may even enhance the quality and performance of your existing titles." However, IIRC there have been people here at the forums saying that they are having problems with JF/A-18 after installing DirectX 9.0 (or 9.0b).

"When coupled with a DirectX 9.0 compatible video card and driver..." Do I need to have a DirectX 9.0 compatible video card and driver if I install DirectX 9.0?
If so, how do I know whether or not my video card and drivers (see my first paragraph above) are DirectX 9.0 compatible?

"Backward compatibility is a key feature of DirectX. We do application compatibility testing with a large number of released DirectX-enabled titles and a number of pre-release titles every time we release a new version of DirectX. In rare cases, some titles are 'version coded' to accept only a single version of DirectX. These titles are almost always updated by the manufacturer to fix this behavior. These few cases aside, we are not aware of any compatibility problems with any previously released DirectX-enabled titles. In some cases, these programs may even run better with DirectX 9.0." However, as everyone knows, Jane's F/A-18 is not updated by the manufacturer, and, as noted above, IIRC there have been people here at the forums saying that they are having problems with JF/A-18 after installing DirectX 9.0 (or 9.0b).

"DirectX 9.0 has been released, so we no longer provide earlier versions of DirectX. Please download DirectX 9.0.If you are running Windows 98, Windows Me, or Windows 2000. The DirectX 9.0 runtime includes transparent support and backward compatibility for all previous versions of DirectX." However, as noted above, IIRC there have been people here at the forums saying that they are having problems with JF/A-18 after installing DirectX 9.0 (or 9.0b), and as noted in the preceding quote, earlier version of DirectX are no longer provided.

Lastly, on the download page, it says, "Once you have installed this item, it cannot be removed."

Taking the above into account, should I get DirectX 9.0b?

Particularly because, as noted above, "DirecctX 9.0b improves the...security... of your operating system," should I get DirectX 9.0b?

How does DirectX 9.0b affect the security of my operating system and improve it?

Thanks.

DX9 will not hurt JF-18 on a Windows 98 system.

As for the security bit, it probably applies to some multiplayer aspect of DX itself, and I doubt it's important, but it may be.

Here is the post I made on Frugals World replying to you.

I'd be interested in hearing people's experiences in MP between DX9 and DX8 machines.

Recluse

Hi Doc,
There's an article on ZDNET about Directx called
In MSblasts wake, a Directx threat. They were not very specific but I beleive that by viewing a MIDI file someone could exploit a flaw in Directx to cause havoc. I would have given you the link but when I tried my system locked up.(gotta love computers). BTW I have directx 8.2. Not sure at this time if I want to "upgrade" to 9.0b

Jim

Doc.. if you DO install DX9 and have any trouble, 'DX Buster' will not un-install DX9 for you. What I "HAVE" discovered...from experience..is that whenever I 'Re-Install' Windows on my WIN98 machine, I find I am back with the DX version on MY WIN98 CD, DX6. I used to re-run the DX7 install program on my F/A-18 CD.. ..Now, I Re-Run the DX8 Install from my Cougar CD. I wouldn't swear that it works with all '98 machines, but it does with mine...

Chief...

Doc I have the same hardware setup as you and just installed 9.0b for the same reason as you...I too received the pop up advisery. It installed very nicely, no problems.

Okay, just to touch on what Recluse stated. I am a member of the Buddyboys and Janes F/A-18 was/is our sim of choice for LAN multiplay. Frankly, we were spoiled with the success we had during our meets and the stability that F/A-18 provided for 6-7 players. Anyway, I had Direct X 8.1 on my system and Crash had updated to 9.0 prior to a meet. He and I could connect, but those with 8.0 could not. So, we all made the plunge and upgraded to 9.0. Everything was great and we experienced no connection problems. However, we bumped to 9.0a, thinking it would only improve things. Well, that put the end to Janes F/A-18 for us. We can no longer get more than five people to connect per session at our LAN meets. So, we tried various things and the same result occurred: no more than five could connect.

We have a meet coming up in September and we are making the effort to get everyone back to 9.0. This way, we will be able to determine for sure if it was direct X 9.0a that caused the problems. Anyway, just our results for LAN play and we don't fly Janes F/A-18 over the net..just LAN. Wish us luck since we have not been able to get in the air for the past few months

Griff

Thanks, everyone. I really appreciate it.

A good rule of thumb is: Never upgrade to another version of DX until a sim you really want to use requires it. Then I hold my breath and go for it.

Doc,

My understanding is that the DX 9.0b driver is "optimized" for the 4X.XX Nvidia driver series. They are supposedly down-compatible, though.

However, Cirrus, the DirectX 9.0b info says, "DirectX 9.0b improves the graphics, security [bold face added by me], and performance of your operating system."

What are your thoughts about the security vulnerablility you risk by not upgrading to DirectX 9.0b?

Thanks, Old Navy.

Hey doc,

Didn't really know DX had alot to do with security, will have to look into this. I always try to install the latest Windows and IE security patches through Windows Update and keep my NAV virus definitons up to date. I just worry about a new version of DX porking my operating system.

Cirrus, after you look into it, I'd appreciate it if you would let me know what your thoughts are regarding the security issue regarding DX 9b.

Thanks.

Rgr that. I find it odd myself that MS would have DX9.0b listed as a "Critical" rather than a "Recommended" Update as they usually do in Windows Update. I will check the MS Knowledge Base to see what they have to say about it. I am still using Win98SE and it's listed as Critical for me also.

Thanks, Cirrus.

Didn't find anything on security but found the following on the DX FAQ page:

Q. Are there any immediate benefits to installing DirectX 9.0?

A. When coupled with a DirectX 9.0 compatible video card and driver, you may see a visual improvement in games that were designed with DirectX 9.0 in mind.

Improvements to DirectPlay let computers within a Windows Me or Windows XP Internet Connection Sharing network connect with each other, as well as with players elsewhere on the Internet. Users with modern UPnP network routers no longer need to configure them for DirectPlay, because DirectPlay will open and close the multiplayer gaming ports as needed.


Q. Are there any known issues with regard to DirectX 9.0?

A. Due to enhancements in the way DirectPlay functions, it is strongly recommended that all users who want to join or host multiplayer games upgrade to DirectX 9.0. A user with earlier versions of DirectX may have trouble joining or hosting games, or my see a significant performance reduction when playing with users who have 9.0 installed.

Some video card manufacturers have updated drivers that are specifically designed to work with DirectX 9.0. It's possible that these drivers will benefit performance, quality, or stability of games running DirectX 9.0. Please make sure you check with your video card manufacturer to see if such drivers exist for your video card.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx...faq/default.htm

Thanks, Cirrus.

I saw those FAQ items but didn't feel that they directly applied to my situation right at this moment. I was more concerned about the security issue, but IIRC the FAQ doesn't say anything about security.

What are your thoughts about the security issue regarding DX 9b?

Have you decided whether or not you're going to install DX 9b?

Doc,

I've heard that the only difference between DX 9.0 and DX 9.0b is the security vulnerability update. Apparently, some people have gotten hacked thru the use of DX 9...

Thanks, Old Navy.