# OpenGL finally getting off its butt - DX10 in XP?



## ADF (Jun 4, 2007)

With the DX10 hype I'm surprised OpenGL even gets the headlines these days, but something caught my eye while browsing around.

OpenGL 2.x is coming out in July and is supposed to be a major clean up of the code, kind of like what DX10 did, but OpenGL 3.0 that is supposed to be coming out three months after that is apparently going to compete with DX10.

â€œWe are talking about DirectX 10-class hardware, bringing all the features of unified 3D architecture to the world of OpenGL.â€

Now I am sure this has all the Linux geeks very excited, but for the average Joe what caught my interest is this.

â€œKhronos took over the running of the OpenGL Architecture Review Board last Autumn and has managed to get chip-makers like Nvidia to open up DX10-esque hardware features in the OpenGL system.â€

â€œThe extension mechanism has also allowed manufacturers of high end cards to gracefully expose DirectX 10 features on Windows XP"

DirectX 10 quality games running without Vista? Now that is interesting.

What do you think? It is a nice idea but OpenGL hasn't had much popularity lately amongst game developers.

Linky if you want to read into it


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## net-cat (Jun 5, 2007)

It's a good idea. With DX10 being Vista-only, making DX10 features available for Windows XP (which, despite Microsoft's marketing, isn't going away any time soon) through OpenGL might make OpenGL more appealing to game developers. (And, as a bonus, it will piss off Microsoft.)


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## HaTcH (Jun 8, 2007)

I find that a competitor to DirectX 10 like OpenGL is very possible. Like net-cat said, DX10 is Vista only at the moment, but Vista is a piece of crap. Right now anyway, hardware drivers are still being perfected and stuff, so it's going to be a while before Vista is as solid as XP.

So this looks like it could be a good step forward to linux/mac gaming. With nVidia and ATI finally stepping up and both releasing working hardware acceleration drivers. Coupled with Vista's short comings, I wouldn't be surprised if major game releases became Linux compat, sans WINEX or Cedega or whatever. Of course, if they were going to develop games for a different platform, it would probably be for the Mac, just so they wouldn't have to deal with people's hardware issues.


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## Kougar (Jun 8, 2007)

Proof is in the pudding... It's great to have a non-Microsoft choice out there, but they need to get some major games interested. None of the upcoming games we've heard about are going to be using this simply because the game needs to be designed for OpenGL to begin with. In this case to use any of the new features, the game must be specificly designed not just for OpenGL, but for OpenGL "Longs Peak" and "Mt Evans" versions, whatever those are going to be. The old OpenGL 2.1 API simply won't be capable of any of the new features. It'll be at least a year before any games are released that start making use of it I'd wager.


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## sasaki (Jun 10, 2007)

If OGL can use some of those DX10 features, there's also a chance that Microsoft would attempt to port DX10 to XP. I honestly don't buy their reasoning behind the new API. I'm sure they're able to patch XP via service pack to have those same functions.


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## HaTcH (Jun 11, 2007)

I don't see why MS wouldn't try and make DX10 compat with XP. Although, right now, Vista's only real selling point is just that. 

But I think it's important to note that some OEM companies have actually added back the Windows XP option to new computers (which was removed when Vista came out). I haven't validated this myself, but it's what I was told. Similarly, Dell is also offering laptops with Ubuntu Linux installed...


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## Ron Overdrive (Jun 19, 2007)

I've been using OpenGL 2.1.1 for a while now and it works pretty good. Games just need to start supporting it. Can't wait to see what kind of magic OpenGL 3 can work. That'd be sweet if it is comparable to DX10.


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## Zero_Point (Jun 25, 2007)

I've heard rumors about a "DirectX 9.0L" that M$ is working on, which is apparantley just DX10 for XP. But as I've said, it's a rumor.


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## HaTcH (Jun 25, 2007)

If that was any more than a rumor, it would be plastering the Linux community. A number of the higher up developers and stuff work for or have worked for large companies like Microsoft. So they'd know... Either from first hand or like, >_> <_< 'tubes.'


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