Bad news about Vista

[MisterChief]

http://www.opengl.org/

It seems that microsoft wishes to neuter OpenGL in Windows Vista so that DirectX stays on top.

[weirdguy]

the bad thing is it's made by microsoft

[sXenoG]

i really dont kno the diff between opengl and direct3d. But i believe i read something about htis on a review site and they said this will cause a lack of performance cuz of how they are conducting it.

[Antedos]

i believe OpenGL runs more stable than Direct 3D.. looking for example at Quake III Arena.. openGL game.. runs somehow really smooth and is perfect for benchmarking, while for example, NBA Live series, who i believe are direct 3D based, have sometimes fluctuations in gameplay due to D3D support.. or it could just be my imagination

[MisterChief]

i really dont kno the diff between opengl and direct3d. But i believe i read something about htis on a review site and they said this will cause a lack of performance cuz of how they are conducting it.

Compare games like Doom 3 and Half-Life 2, which are OpenGL and DirectX games respectively. There is indeed a difference between the "style" and "feel" of both games. Then compare ATI and nVidia cards. ATI cards lean more toward DirectX games, and nVidia cards lean more toward OpenGL, though the X*** and 6***/7800 series cards have erased that line.


* OpenGL performance will be significantly reduced - perhaps as much as 50%
* OpenGL on Windows will be fixed at a vanilla version of OpenGL 1.4
* No extensions will be possible to expose future hardware innovations


More to the point, game developers will have little choice between the two APIs. They will have to ditch OpenGL and embrace DirectX, which is owned and licesned by Microsoft. Since OpenGL is free, it will obviously not survive such a damaging hit in performance under the most popular OS.

[Malatory]

DirectX is MS open arm embrace to an standard and then add to it there own way so they can kill off the older child format.

My old SGI is setup for openGL graphic coding (done right in C it can move from one plate for to another) I have seen more and more coders move to DirectX because its more embedded in Windows. I personal prefer games with the openGL format because they tend to have Linux Releases and that will spure me more into getting the game.

[MisterChief]

DirectX is MS open arm embrace to an standard and then add to it there own way so they can kill off the older child format.

My old SGI is setup for openGL graphic coding (done right in C it can move from one plate for to another) I have seen more and more coders move to DirectX because its more embedded in Windows. I personal prefer games with the openGL format because they tend to have Linux Releases and that will spure me more into getting the game.

Yep. So it looks like the only way OpenGL will continue to prosper is if there's a sudden burst in games for Linux/Mac users.

[sXenoG]

So it sounds as if theyre trying to manip the market liek they always do is this correct?

[MisterChief]

So it sounds as if theyre trying to manip the market liek they always do is this correct?

Exactly

[sXenoG]

Wonder when the monopoly will ever end...

[MisterChief]

Wonder when the monopoly will ever end...

Somewhere between World War III and the nuclear holocaust know as the Microsoft Wars. :D

[sXenoG]

lol by then wont then wont microsoft own the world? :P Its sad I love the computer and if it werent for microsoft i would have never gotten into computers. But i feel theyre going way too far...

[Archimedes]

Micro$oft can try all that they wish. But far too many products (not just games!) use OpenGL. Poser, for example, is OpenGL. Most of the current versions of AutoCAD do better under OpenGL (though 3dMAX is, unfortunately, more turned for DirectX). Still, there's just what I can think off of the top of my head.

Plus, this goes against M$'s supposed 'vision' of supporting and using open standards, which was one of the ways they tried to wiggle out from under the monopoly suits the gov't put up against them. If they want to keep Uncle Sam from jumping them again, they won't go through with this.