I was working as a reviewer when DX10 was announced, and I was heavily into the gamer scene at a higher level (actually talking with some of the big indie developers, talking with some of the pro-gamers and such). From what I saw the response to DX10 as a Vista exclusive wasn't lukewarm, it was positively insulted.
The situation got even worse when Vista was released and it came out that Vista was actively stopping some games from working, removing the *.exe's as trojans.
IMO MS rushed DX10 onto Vista way too fast, it should have been released when the OS was actually stable for gaming. They didn't appease the hardcore gamers, developers and especially the pro-gamers (who earn their money from games and don't want them screwing up) with the giant fumble start for gaming.
The situation got even worse when Vista was released and it came out that Vista was actively stopping some games from working, removing the *.exe's as trojans.
IMO MS rushed DX10 onto Vista way too fast, it should have been released when the OS was actually stable for gaming. They didn't appease the hardcore gamers, developers and especially the pro-gamers (who earn their money from games and don't want them screwing up) with the giant fumble start for gaming.