Confusion on AA and DX10

[Mohamed612]

Hello everyone, well right now Shogun 2 is downloading and i've been on the forums and all i've been able to see is this DX9 10 and 11 stuff. What exactly is AA? I know it's some kind of graphic option but that's about it, and that you need to have DX10.1 to run it. Can't you just upgrade Direct X? And how do you check which one you have?
Sorry if I sound like an idiot but I've just ran into a lot of confusion at this.
Thanks!

[dzoulias]

AA is a graphics option, supported by your graphics card through DirectX (more on that later). AA (Anti Aliasing) makes the edges of graphics models smoother instead of jagged. Overall it decreases performance but makes for much better quality.

DirectX is also an executable and yes you can upgrade it. You can download the runtime from Microsoft and update your DirectX, depending on your operating system. BUT that DOES NOT MEAN you can use it. To use its features you need to have a graphics card that supports what you installed. Meaning older GFX cards support up to 10. If you have one like that you WILL be able to tun and play the game but with no AA (In my opinion the game looks amazing without it too). AA will be supported for 10.1 and 11 cards. In my case i will not be able to see the bells and whistles of 11 since my GFX is an ATI 4890 but i WILL be able to use AA since it is a DirectX 10.1 card.

But you will be able to run and play the game and rest assured it will look good too.