Definition: XNA is the follow up to DirectX and is not an acronym in the recursive acronym style like GNU i.e. "XNA's Not Acronymed".
The definition here was provided by Andy Dunn, an XNA MVP.
XNA is a ‘brand’ that encompasses all gaming technologies including DirectX.
The XNA team has several products it releases:
- DirectX and DirectX SDK - the native game library for windows and Xbox. This includes technologies such as XACT and XAudio for sound and XInput for gamepads.
- XNA Build - a build tool which was released as a beta but appears not to have gone any further.
- XNA Framework - a managed game library which wraps native DirectX and runs on Windows and Xbox 360.
- XNA Game Studio Express extensions for C# express which allow easy coding and deployment of XNA Framework applications. Version 2.0 drops the ‘Express’ requirement
