Dear DirectX 8.1 Beta Tester:
The DirectX Team is currently working on the Release Candidate (RC) for DirectX 8.1 and we plan to release this RC to you sometime next week. We are very close to releasing the final version of DirectX 8.1, so your assistance in quickly evaluating the quality of this RC is appreciated!
We ask that you install the Release Candidate as soon as it becomes available and provide us with your immediate feedback. Bug reports must be received by October 8th to have any chance of affecting the final release