Had you talked to ATI about the notion of application specific optimisations last year they'd have likely suggested that these can be fragile, and generic optimisations are not the most stable route to take. However, when the competitive landscape gets a little closer, and even significantly exceeds in some high profile cases, these types of policies inevitably need to be rethought, especially when the competition has an open policy allowing for application specific optimisations. So, now, ATI are (re)introducing the notion of optimising performance where generic optimisations can't meet the needs to the particular application or engines rendering requirements.Links:
Driverheaven
Tweaktown
The Tech Report
Beyond3D