I think DirectDraw is really hard, I got a gamers cd book and it was all about directx 7 and direct draw. I''m glad I started directx at directx 8, I would probably have given it up if it had still been directx 7 at the time. It is still good for 2d graphics though (I used to do dark basic classic, and that is based on dx 7), the 2d stuff was quite good. Do what other people around here do, try SDL, or Allegro or (best), get straight into DX9.