On May 28, 2007, at 11:08 AM, Brad Fuller wrote:
Bert's comment: "Because OpenGL support on Windows is consistently inferior to Direct3D support on consumer-level hardware." brings up the question "how much inferior?" So much that it's a no-brainer? Or will OpenGL get there. (I don't know the answer - I didn't know that there was any difference between the different platform implementations.)
It's not that OpenGL is inferior to Direct3D per se (in fact, it not uncommon for the most advanced GPU features to be exposed via OpenGL extensions before they are supported by Direct3D). The problem is that Direct X comes installed by default on every Windows machine, whereas Microsoft's default OpenGL implementation is a joke; for proper OpenGL support, you need to download the latest drivers from from the vendors site (for laptops, you sometimes have to get unofficial drivers from enthusiast sites). While this is not a big hurdle for hardcore gamers, it is for the casual computer user.
Josh
HOWEVER, if updated D3D could attract game developers to Squeak, that is well worth considering.
brad