Microsoft's new 3D graphics toolkit for Windows 98, code-named "Chrome,"
will be available for free download over the Web beginning August 17th. The
toolkit, which will be called Chromeffects when it is released, is an
add-on for Windows 98 (and, eventually, Windows NT 5.0) that will allow
developers to target low-bandwidth DirectX-based graphics to Web browsers
over the Internet. Microsoft says that Windows 98 users wishing to take
advantage of Chromeffects will need pretty heft hardware: A Pentium II 350
with AGP graphics is the minimum requirement.