The XNA Framework allows game developers to create modern games using the C# programming language and a rich set of development libraries. The XNA Framework provides its own content pipeline to make it easy to get rich content (3D, 2D, sound, etc.) from content creation sources into a game.

XNA Game Studio Express customers will be able to seek support in our XNA Framework and XNA Game Studio Express forums accessible through the Game Development forum links on our XNA Developer at http://msdn.com/xna/forums.

The XNA Framework beta will be available as part of the XNA Game Studio Express beta offering on August 30. If you are interested in being notified when the XNA Game Studio Express beta is available for download, go to http://connect.microsoft.com and select "Available Connections." Then choose the XNA connection and follow the link to sign up for the XNA Game Studio Express Beta. (Note: A valid Windows Live ID is required, if you do not have one, you will be given the option of creating one.)

The XNA Framework will be made available to Windows game developers via a free download. In order to develop for the 360, developers will need to join the XNA "Creators Club" which includes everything a developer needs to build non-commercial games for an Xbox 360 retail console.

We will continue to provide updates to the game development community via future events and our XNA website (http://msdn.com/xna). You can participate in community discussions at http://msdn.com/xna/forums. In addition, you can also email xna@microsoft.com if you have any questions, but we cannot guarantee a response to every email we receive. A:XNA Game Studio Express development tools and environment for Windows will be available for download worldwide from http://msdn.com/xna.

No, it is not interpreted. The IL is just-in-time (JIT) compiled into native code when it is initially loaded by a process, prior to execution. This allows hardware-specific optimizations unique to the PC and Xbox 360 architectures.

A Direct3D 9.0 card, capable of supporting Shader Model 1.1, is the minimum. The recommended level is a card that supports Shader Model 2.0, since most samples and starter kits will require a Shader Model 2.0-compliant card.

Currently, the XNA Framework for Windows ships with XNA Game Studio Express and not the DirectX SDK. The XNA Framework for Xbox 360 is only available through Xbox Live Marketplace once a subscription to the XNA "Creators Club" has been purchased.

The initial release of the XNA Framework on the Xbox 360 will not have any support for networking. We realize this is a big area of interest for game developers and are actively working on a solution for the next release.

Yes. The XNA Framework is a completely different set of technologies targeted at game developers. It does share similarities based on the fact that the underlying technologies are still based on DirectX. The XNA Framework also leverages other technologies such as XACT and X/Input.

XNA Game Studio Express will enable you to create Windows and now Xbox 360 console games much more easily. These games are limited to non-commercial scenarios for 360 titles created with XNA Game Studio Express. However, XNA Game Studio Express may be used to create commercial games which target Windows. We will be releasing XNA Game Studio Professional next spring which will allow developers to create commercial games for Xbox addition to Windows.

The XNA Framework makes use of a custom, native implementation of the .NET Compact Framework 2.0 CLR on the Xbox 360.

We have implemented or refactored a large number of features from D3DX in the XNA Framework. We are actively investigating any additional functionality from D3DX that may be required by game developers that may have been missed. We will be taking feedback through the newsgroup forums as well as through xna@microsoft.com.

Microsoft will continue to support MDX 1.1 as per our standard support policy. Once the XNA Framework ships we will provide guidance on how to move from MDX 1.1 to the XNA Framework

On Windows you can use System.Net or any other network library. On Xbox 360 there is no network support. Local multi-player support is supported on the Xbox 360 however.

We have implemented or refactored a large number of features from D3DX in the XNA Framework. We are actively investigating any additional functionality from D3DX that may be required by game developers that may have been missed. We are taking feedback through the newsgroup forums as well as through xna@microsoft.com. No. The XNA Framework does not replace or interfere with your existing Framework installation. The XNA Framework on Windows is a set of class libraries built against the .

The WS-Resource Framework (WSRF) is a set of six Web services specifications that define what is termed the WS-Resource approach to modeling and managing state in a Web services context. To date, drafts of three of these specifications have been released, along with an architecture document that motivates and describes the WS-Resource approach to modeling stateful resources with Web services.

We feel we have chosen a robust set of file formats for the release of the content pipeline that allow you to work with a wide rage of available content creation tools. More importers supporting more content creation tools will become available in the future.

The Warwick Framework is a set of design principles that have guided the development of the Dublin Core since the Second Dublin Core Metadata Workshop in Warwick, UK. The Warwick provides a metadata-based school of thought that believes different kinds of metadata can be used to describe the same resource in disparate ways to accomplish different goals.

On Windows, you'll be able to develop, test and distribute software created with XNA Game Studio Express for free. When you sign up for the nominally priced annual subscription to XNA Game Studio Express for Xbox 360, you'll be able to write a game on Windows, then send it to your Xbox 360 to test and enjoy. Eventually, you'll be able to distribute that code to other Xbox 360s, opening up a unique publishing avenue which will democratize game development on consoles.

execution framework is an executable script or binary which is responsible for managing the work associated with a job. For instanace, the Platform's Default framework is responsible for manifesting a collection and distributing a user's application across multiple compute nodes to efficiently process the collection. Every job that performs work on the Compute Cluster invokes a framework.

The DOI System is an implementation of the indecs metadata framework. In addition, IDF participates in the management and governance of the indecs framework, together with other stakeholders. IDF is one of the organisations which developed the original indecs framework and is now developing it further. The indecs approach is fundamental to the DOI System's design.

You bet! Check out Fairway Solitaire, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and also Holiday Bonus (all programmed by Grey Alien Games). These games have been released on several major portals including Big Fish Games, Reflexive, MSN, AOL, iWin, Playfirst, Boonty etc. and have sold tens of thousands of copies and made hundreds of thousands of dollars. Also take a look at Sudoku Maya Gold (by Gellyware) which was released exclusively on Real Arcade.