DirectX
Once upon a time, Windows was a dog when it came to graphics. The term
"Windows game" was an oxymoron. When Windows 95 was in development,
a new way of programming to the graphics engine was made available called
WinG. Probably because this was pronounced Whinge, it rapidly mutated into
a family of technologies called DirectX which is the mechanism that
MechWarrior and other Windows 95 games use. DirectX contains DirectDraw,
DirectSound, Direct3D and so forth - mechanisms to provide developers with
quick access to graphics, sound and joysticks. These require a special set of
drivers to be added to most Windows 95 installations, but once in place should
operate invisibly.
