The OpenGL Architecture Review Board (ARB) says that adoption of the OpenGL 1.4 specification is proceeding rapidly. The specification was ratified in July by the ARB and has enhancements to the cross-platform 2D and 3D graphics technology preferred by many companies, including Apple.
Introduced in 1992 by Silicon Graphics Inc. OpenGL is a cross-platform 2D and 3D graphics application programming interface (API). With more than 60 hardware developer licensees, OpenGL has the broadest industry support of any openly licensed graphics API, according to the ARB.
“OpenGL is built into the core of Mac OS X’s Quartz graphics system, and Apple is strongly committed to this powerful graphics technology,” said Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing. “Jaguar includes the ARB vertex programming extensions, and the Quartz Extreme composited window system is fully accelerated using OpenGL, making Mac OS X the ultimate platform for 2D, 3D and multimedia graphics.”
Current Nvidia drivers support both OpenGL 1.4 and the recently approved ARB_vertex_program interface, said Lew Wagman, director of software marketing at Nvidia. Nvidia, of course, makes graphics processors for several Macintosh systems.
“By evolving the OpenGL specification rapidly, and by committing to timely implementations of these new standards, Nvidia and the other OpenGL ARB members and licensees are empowering the development of applications and games that fully leverage new hardware capabilities, and that operate on a wide variety of platforms,” Wagman said.
Note: When you purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Read our affiliate link policy for more details.