DirectX 9

DirectX 9 was introduced in December 2002. The most important change was the implementation of High Level Shading Language (HLSL) which made it easier for developers to create 3D graphics and effects. Another new feature is an API which offers Patch-Meshes, common Polygon-Meshes together with improved realtime-animation capabilities.

Versions
Microsoft implemented updates into the DirectX 9.0c branch between 2005 and 2010, instead of releasing a new version like 9.0d. This makes it uneasy to distinguish between 9.0c releases which work on Windows 98 and those which don't, unless you check for the package release date which is also used for this list.


 * 9.0
 * 12 Dec 2002: Initial release of version 9, supporting Windows 98, 98SE, ME, 2000, XP.
 * 9.0a
 * 30 Apr 2003: Adds support for Windows Server 2003.
 * 9.0b
 * 03 Oct 2003: Supporting Windows 98, 98SE, ME, 2000, XP, Server 2003.
 * 9.0c
 * 22 Jul 2004: Last version for Windows 98.
 * 20 Dec 2005: Drops support for Windows 98, first 64-bit version for Windows XP x64 Edition.
 * 08 Dec 2006: Last version for Windows 98 Second Edition, adds support for Windows Vista. An offline installer package is available for download on microsoft.com.
 * 02 Feb 2007: Drops support for Windows 98 Second Edition.
 * 27 Oct 2008: Last version for Windows Me.
 * 16 Mar 2009: Drops support for Windows Me.
 * 5 Feb 2010: Final release of the 9.0c branch, last version for Windows 2000 and has support for Windows 7.
 * 9.29
 * 7 Jun 2010: Initial release, supporting only Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 at its release. Version 9.29 again receives continuous updates (changing its minor version to currently 9.29.1974.1 as of August 2021) for supported Windows operating systems and meanwhile also supports Windows 8.x and 10. An offline installer package is available for download on microsoft.com.

Since DirectX 9.0c, offline installer packages usually follow the name pattern directx_date_redist.exe whereas date is to be replaced by month and year of the package build date, for example directx_Jun2010_redist.exe or directx_Dec2006_redist.exe.