I already have the SDK, but it doesnt help much, most of it is for c++, and the managed languages section has some stuff, but under the directdraw section it has this

Note: This documentation is preliminary and is subject to change.
Warning: Microsoft® DirectDraw® has been deprecated. Deprecated components of Microsoft DirectX® 9.0 for Managed Code are considered obsolete. While these components are still supported in this release of DirectX 9.0 for Managed Code, they may be removed in the future. When writing new applications, you should avoid using these deprecated components. When modifying existing applications, you are strongly encouraged to remove any dependency on these components.
The DirectDraw application programming interface (API) is the component of DirectX that enables you to directly manipulate display memory, the hardware blitter, hardware overlay support, and flipping surface support. For more information, see the Microsoft.DirectX.DirectDraw managed code reference documentation.

So i go to the microsoft.directX.directdraw managed code refrerence documentation, and all of it gives me the same "deprecated" message.

furthermore, i have attempted to load surfaces from files, and it doesnt want to work for me, the pictures are bmps. and I get an error on this part of the code:
retval = dd.CreateSurfaceFromFile(path, ddsdf)
retval is an integer, dd is my directdraw object, path is a string that is the path to the bmp, and ddsdf is a DDSURFACEDESC2 (with it's height set at 49, and its width set at 200) (the size of my picture) and some other things for ddsdf: ddsdf.lFlags = DDSD_CAPS Or DDSD_HEIGHT Or DDSD_WIDTH
ddsdf.DDSCAPS.lCaps = DDSCAPS_OFFSCREENPLAIN And DDSCAPS_VIDEOMEMORY

so when i run it I get an error that says: method or data member not found. and it highlights .CreateSurfaceFromFile

I am beginning to think direct3D would be easier to work with... it isn't "deprecated"