After my last foray into the world of DirectX I didn't continue with doing much work in that area. I've been inspired to try playing with it again with the recent release of version 2 of the .Net Framework, and the associated free release of Microsoft's Visual Studio Express tools. The development IDEs weren't going to be free, but Microsoft have had a benevolent change of heart, releasing them free for the next year.
In addition to this shiny new development environment, Microsoft have been busy putting up some great new tutorials for people getting started with Managed DirectX coding at their Coding4Fun site. All in all, they're doing a good job of enticing new programmers to try their wares, which means more fine software being produced for all of us.