Well then there is always blitz3d.
Blitz3D IMHO is no longer a contender. The ease at which you can form complex structures and have them actually working in BlitzMAX in a couple of minutes, eliminates Blitz3D as a serious contender. Max2D is a different story.
Still. If people are not inclined to "download new drivers to get your game working" there is no way in hell they're going to "download new drivers and DirectX 9 to get your game working".Incidently I see no mention of how (or even if) this will effect "Max2D" functionality.