OpenGL and Windows Vista
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On some forums i've been suggested to switch to DirectX since Windows Vista will have a very poor support for Opengl API's.
I recall also seeing a sort of "petition" against MS regarding this subject at opengl.org, but unfortunately i couldn't understand all of that document (english is not my first language).
I really hope it won't be like that, i love OpenGL and i don't want to start to study another graphics programming API. No words to say that if all this is true, well it seems very unfair to me.
Quote:Original post by Alessandro
On some forums i've been suggested to switch to DirectX since Windows Vista will have a very poor support for Opengl API's.
I recall also seeing a sort of "petition" against MS regarding this subject at opengl.org, but unfortunately i couldn't understand all of that document (english is not my first language).
I really hope it won't be like that, i love OpenGL and i don't want to start to study another graphics programming API. No words to say that if all this is true, well it seems very unfair to me.
an alternative would be suse 10 + nvidia drivers *they got an installer for suse* :)
I will try this out in 2 months when my exams are over
Author
From the document i have read, it seems that opengl support is continued, am i right ?
Quote:
From the document i have read, it seems that opengl support is continued, am i right ?
Yep!
Microsoft is doing, with Vista, what they did with XP. On XP, Microsoft only provided version 1.1 of OpenGL, and third party companies were left to provide additional versions and support. With Vista, Microsoft made the decision to provide support up until 1.4. And, again, other people would have to give the additional support.
Quote:Original post by Dorvo
Microsoft is doing, with Vista, what they did with XP. On XP, Microsoft only provided version 1.1 of OpenGL, and third party companies were left to provide additional versions and support. With Vista, Microsoft made the decision to provide support up until 1.4. And, again, other people would have to give the additional support.
Not really. It's a little more complex than that. In XP, while Microsofts OpenGL support was obsolete beyond belief, the interface to it - the ICD interface - was well documented for hardware manufacturers.
In Vista, the LDDM compatible interface to the Aero desktop compositor is not documented, and LDDM is more complex than the old XP driver ICD interface model (due to WGF, but also due to TC related issues). In other words, external vendors were not able to support OpenGL, even if they wanted to. They still cannot to the full extend (ie. fully composited Aeroglass OpenGL), but a compromise solution was found (ie. uncomposited window, without requiring to turn off Aero entirely).
This solution is good for me, as it is acceptable for both games and professional CAD software. Although it would be nice, if we could eventually get a full LDDM compatible OpenGL driver for Aero.
I still don't understand why Microsoft 'thinks' they have a decision in impeding OpenGL in Vista. If Nvidia or ATI write their drivers to circumvent anything Microsoft has put in place, won't that just enable full support for OpenGL?
Quote:Original post by oconnellseanmIf that were to happen, MS could refuse to sign the drivers, and I gather that the current state of Vista is that no unsigned drivers are allowed without explicitly booting into a special mode.
If Nvidia or ATI write their drivers to circumvent anything Microsoft has put in place, won't that just enable full support for OpenGL?
Besides, MS haven't directly done anything to destroy OpenGL, in much the same way that Apple haven't directly done anything to prevent Windows from running on the Mactels. It's just that the technology was built in such a way (intentionally or not) that the state of affairs is as such.
Author
It's just that the technology was built in such a way (intentionally or not) that the state of affairs is as such.
I's say intentionally !
I's say intentionally !
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