Just some thoughts...
So if I understand all this correctly even though I have Visual Studio .NET I have to download and use an express version of C# and download GSE Seems silly.
If this is really being pushed towards amateurs then GSE and C# express should be integrated so it's one download and one application (aka easy). Otherwise it should be built on the real visual studio. In the current situation it seems both the amateurs that microsoft is trying to attract and the professional "dabblers" are getting the shaft to a degree.
I'm also not really sure what the point of GSE and XNA is in the first place. I would think that 360 compatability could be boiled down to a document that tells you what features/API's are supported as I thought the idea of DirectX was to abstact out the hardware layer anyway so that just leaves OS level features to document differences between the two platforms and an extra compile for each platform. In the past I have not found it difficult at all to get my content into my games with DirectX (pre-manged directx, pre .NET) so I have a hard time seeing much benefit there either.
So I guess I'm confused as to what the whole point of GSE and XNA is to begin with and the FAQ didn't seem to really go into any detail regarding what issues GSE and XNA solve. It almost seems like there hasn't been a clear direction for DirectX since version 9.
GSE/XNA/C# Express Confusion
Lo&#239&#59;c Baumann
The point of the GSE is to let amature developers get started programming their game as fast as possible. Though DirectX does a good job of abstracting low level tasks like video cards and OS, you still have to do things like create your window, start up and handle the message queueing and make your game behave nicely when someone alt-tabs or minimizes the application. These are all aspects you don't have to worry about on the 360 (you don't create a window, you don't alt-tab) so XNA is designed to make developers not have to worry about most of the things that are different between the two systems. Instead of copying over that window-creation code you've been using and/or gotten from a book, just start a new project, drag and drop the graphics controller onto the window and hit F5.
Using XNA also gets rid of many, if not all, of the features that are usable on the Windows platform but not the 360, this means that most of the code you wright with the XNA framework can be ported over without any hastle.
pmak
So it's a wrapper for directx with crossplatform support. Also please, if XNA is the replacement for directX let's just call it the next version of directx instead of XNA.
Personally I think If microsoft wants to bring in amateurs then they shouldn't have killed DirectDraw.
csalsa