I don't know anything about SDL but if you code with DirectX, you must have knowledge of what version of DirectX you're coding for. Not all versions of DirecdtX is available on all Windows platforms.
If your client uses GDI, it will even run on Windows 3.1! Your socket code may or may not make it 3.1 compatible but it's possible. Now, perhaps, this is overkill (you're probably thinking to yourself who still runs that piece of crap) but there are other platforms, like WinNT that are still used, as is Win95. So, you don't want to needlessly exclude anyone, right?
GDI is too often overlooked. You have a rich set of controls implemented for you, already, and it will have that Windows look to it, which may or may not be what you want. However, it always annoys me how many applications make their own version of controls that already exist in Windows (like WinAmp!). I mean, it used to be a box-line advantage that all Window apps use the same controls and now it's a box-line advantage for applications to not use standard window controls. Oh, the irony...
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