nd CAD and 3-D modeling applications. The move is expected to bring a 3-D technology
previously confined mostly to powerful workstation computers into the mainstream PC market.
A standard API such as Microsoft's Direct3D, released in mid-1996, lets programmers implement 3-D effects universally. Unfortunately, many developers complained how difficult it was to do sophisticated 3-D graphics programming with Direct3D. Renowned game companies such as id Software, developer of the compelling 3-D game Quake, are designing versions of their games exclusively for OpenGL. Frustrated by Direct3D's poor ability to create fantastic 3-D effects, an increasing number of 3-D software developers started to use more OpenGL in 1997. Also, Silicon Graphics is licensing OpenGL to most hardware makers.
In response, Microsoft recently licensed OpenGL for use in its OSR2 release of Windows 95. Microsoft also announced a new version of the professional 3-D graphics API, OpenGL 1.1, for Windows NT and 95. OpenGL 1.1 incorporates an enhanced rendering pipeline, which Microsoft claims is
two to four times faster than the previous version. Microsoft has teamed up with Hewlett-Packard to develop the latest version of Direct3D, found in DirectX 6.0, in a bid to resolve many developer complaints.
Support Grows for OpenGL
