OpenGLSo Microsoft actually only provides OpenGL v1.1...pretty sad. But wait, there's more! Here are Microsoft's very own RECOMMENDATIONS as to which graphics API to use for future work:Windows Vista and Windows 7 provide the same support as Windows XP for OpenGL, which allows video card manufactures to provide an installable client driver (ICD) for OpenGL that provides hardware-accelerated support. Note that newer versions of such ICDs are required to fully support Windows Vista or Windows 7. If no ICD is installed, the system will fall back to the OpenGL v1.1 software layer in most cases.
RecommendationsYeah, that's really supporting OpenGL eh? Somehow I'm having trouble seeing it in the "Recommendations" section....Consider the following recommendations when selecting an API for your graphical application:
* Use Direct3D 9 if your application must support Windows XP or an earlier version of Windows.
* Use Direct3D 9 if you want to support Windows Vista or Windows 7 running with XPDM drivers. For Windows Vista or Windows 7 systems that lack Direct3D 10 or better video hardware, you can either choose to use the existing Windows XP Direct3D 9 code path or use the 10level9 feature levels through the Direct3D 10.1 or Direct3D 11 API.
* Use Direct3D 11 to take advantage of the next generation of video hardware on Windows Vista and Windows 7.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee417756%28VS.85%29.aspx
“That’s BS, of course. First of all OpenGL wasn’t developed from scratch, it was a cleanup of Silicon Graphic’s GL library that had been in use for years, in the real world.”
Neither was Direct3D developed from scratch. It was started by a company that Microsoft bought in the early 90s, around the same time OpenGL was being developed and released.
“Microsoft never would have supported OpenGL in the first place, but it wanted ports of some professional applications (CAD etc.) and those developers wouldn’t consider a Direct3D port.”
It’s this kind of stuff that shows you aren’t really a programmer (or, at least, one that has worked with OpenGL). OpenGL actually has very little to do with the operating system itself - it’s the hardware that makes the difference. The graphics drivers have to support OpenGL, not the operating system. The OpenGL API is more or less OS independent, since OpenGL’s drawing is done directly by the GPU, not the CPU.
“In general, competition is good. This is not really an example of competition though, it’s an example of monopolistic behavior trying to extinguish competition. Direct3D has limited the porting of games to other platforms, thus limiting their competitiveness with Windows.”
Again, this kind of stuff that shows you aren’t a programmer. Programmers will always use the easiest tool to get the job done that has the most benefit. If OpenGL was so much better than Direct3D, especially in the early days, programmers would not have used Direct3D. Even today they have a choice between which API to use. How is that not competition?
“The real competition has been at the level of the 3D hardware manufacturers - who by the way are the entities actually supporting OpenGL on Windows. Microsoft has little to do with it these days other than giving permission.”
This is the whole point. Microsoft can have nothing to do with OpenGL and it doesn’t matter. Windows will always support OpenGL at the same level that OSX does - because processing is done at the hardware level, not the OS level. OpenGL gives programmers easy access to the hardware, bypassing the OS almost entirely.
Will you now admit that you were wrong earlier in implying that Windows does not support OpenGL? That’s like saying OSX doesn’t support PDF files.
“Here it is, straight from the horse’s...mouth:”
Again, this is like going to Apple and asking them which program they give you to open PDF files. Microsoft is a company that makes an Operating System, not a graphics card. They even say in your quote that the user has to go to the hardware manufacturer to get the appropriate driver for OpenGL. Tell me, can I open up a Mac and put a 20 year old graphics card in it, and expect it to run the latest version of OpenGL? Does that mean OSX doesn’t support OpenGL?