One of the main reasons many gamers planned to go with Windows Vista when it was released is DirectX 10.  According to this story on The Inquirer, the soon to be released DX 9.0 L will be DX10 for Windows XP, and will allow you to play DX 10 games.  Since DX9.0L has not been released yet, nor are any DX10 graphics cards or games available, we don’t know how well it will work, or what differences between the two might exist.
“DirectX 9.0 L is simply a renamed and refurbished DirectX 10 for Windows XP. It will make DirectX 10 games to work on Windows XP.

And games such as the upcoming Crysis won’t work on the existing DirectX 9.0 c. they need a DirectX 9.0 L

One of the biggest issues is the fact that Nvidia or ATI won’t have any mainstream or entry-level cards until at least mid- to end of Q1 2007. This suggests that if Vista tips up around the beginning of the year, gamers will be turned off by it.”

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Video Cards   Graphics Cards