   Do I have to learn COM before starting with DirectX?
  We all know that DX is based on COM,and people aften say learning the basis will make the future much easier.Is it a necessity to get around with COM first? Thanks for any comment
  no you dont.every new version of directx better hides the COM nature of directx using transparent macro''s and tricks, all you need to know about COM to know directx is in the directX sdk ;  Reference counting is one of the COM paradigms heavily used in DX (and about only thing you need to learn about COM for using DX). However, it is explained very thoroughly in the SDK, as gonen said.And, it''s not that difficult a concept either 