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Microsoft quits ARB

Started by benjamin bunny Mar 3, 2003 at 8:10 PM 68 replies 4.3k views

Original Post

Mar 3, 2003 at 8:10 PM

There''s a story in the Register which indicates that Microsoft has resigned from the ARB in order to concentrate on Direct3D. MS have been holding up development of OpenGL for a while now, threatening IP actions against OpenGL 2.0 regarding their shader technology and completely failing to update the now ancient openGL32.dll (which only supports up to 1.1 and shipped originally with Windows95). I''m not sure if this is good news or not. ____________________________________________________________ www.elf-stone.com

GKW

Mar 4, 2003 at 12:08 AM

Now that the pink elephant is out of the room maybe things will advance a little quicker. I hope this move isn''t patent related, a la rambus.

"... we should have such an empire for liberty as she has never surveyed since the creation ..."
Thomas Jefferson

Mihail121

Mar 4, 2003 at 5:57 AM

HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO
HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO

Happy Microsoft quiting to everybody.Now maybe the OpenGL things will go like they shoud and OpenGL will continue to develop normally.This is also good for DirectX too.Once again congratiolations!!!

The PAIN is coming...this summer!!!In cinemas everywhere.

Buster

Mar 4, 2003 at 6:07 AM

Good, DirectX and OpenGL should move as far apart as possible. Why have 2 options when they''re both the same?

Besides, now graphics chip makers can concentrate more fully on DX support like they''re supposed to.

emptyhead

Mar 4, 2003 at 6:21 AM

Great! now graphics chip makers can concentrate more fully on OpenGl support like they''re supposed to.

emptyhead
Watch out for advice from the successfull, they don''t want company

Shag

Mar 4, 2003 at 6:29 AM

quote:
Original post by Buster
Besides, now graphics chip makers can concentrate more fully on DX support like they're supposed to.

Eh?

EDIT

quote:
Original post by emptyhead
Great! now graphics chip makers can concentrate more fully on OpenGl support like they're supposed to.

[edited by - Shag on March 4, 2003 7:31:42 AM]

Michalson

Mar 4, 2003 at 6:42 AM

Ah yes, this will really speed up the development of OpenGL now that Microsoft is out of the way, just like how Firewire got to market so much faster that Microsoft+Co's USB *snicker*. We especially won't see patents dragging it down

[edited by - michalson on March 4, 2003 7:43:49 AM]

Ingenu

Mar 4, 2003 at 7:12 AM

Oh my !
They won''t update OpenGL on windows that often anymore...

:=

-* So many things to do, so little time to spend. *-

Yann L

Mar 4, 2003 at 9:48 AM

This is a good thing, and was about time. The ARB tried to kick out MS a long time ago, but couldn''t due to contractual obligations. Generally, this is a good thing for OpenGL, and will help to speed up new extensions, as well as OpenGL 2.0. Recently, MS did everything they could to slow the ARB down, by veto-ing pretty much every decision. That out of the way, will give the ARB a lot more freedom.

On the other hand, I''m a little concerned about patent issues (those patents SGI should never have sold to MS). If the OpenGL development speeds up considerably, it might become a serious threat to D3D (esp. seing that the OpenGL 2.0 specs are far beyond any DX9), then MS will probably try to bully the ARB using their aquired patents.

GKW

Mar 4, 2003 at 10:51 AM

After reading some more posts about this I am really worried that ms got tired of the ''take them down from the inside'' method and are now switching to the tried and true ''sue them to death'' method.

"... we should have such an empire for liberty as she has never surveyed since the creation ..."
Thomas Jefferson

LinaInverse2010

Mar 4, 2003 at 10:55 AM

Its not that windows can''t support new opengl, its just microsoft won''t. But that doesn''t prevent 3rd parties from developing drivers for it.

LinaInverse2010

deadalive

Mar 4, 2003 at 11:23 AM

The world needs OpenGL regardless of whether or not M$ wants it..
The only reason they don''t like it is because they want complete control, which they can never get because there is competition. (I''m downloading linux as we speak.. ;D )
They are computer Nazis. I found it odd they were ever on the ARB to begin with. "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer" was their motto I suppose..

"Now graphics chip makers can concentrate more fully on DX support like they''re supposed to."
People who don''t use windows can''t use directX, so if chip makers were to design DX-only-optimized chips, like you want, they would be ignoring all the thousands of linux/macOS/BeOS/other operating system users. Don''t see that ever happening..
What about people who want to use opengl? I highly doubt M$ can bully every hardware vendor into not supporting opengl..

"Oh my ! They won''t update OpenGL on windows that often anymore..."
This is nothing new.. They stopped updating OpenGL since what? Windows95?! It''s still updated thru card manufacturers drivers.
They can''t really stop you from installing drivers, can they?! (I wouldn''t put it past them!..)

Shag

Mar 4, 2003 at 11:34 AM

"so if chip makers were to design DX-only-optimized chips, like you want ..."

I think you''ll find that the actual manufacturers prefer OpenGL by a long shot. If DX ceased to exist they probably wouldn''t give a monkies!

Those of you that visit the opengl.org forums will be aware that the nvidia guys that go there are definately biased towards OpenGL. Probably the ATI lot too.

It''s safe to assume the OpenGL is here to stay - regardless of Microsoft''s intents.

Arild Fines

Mar 4, 2003 at 11:42 AM

quote:
Original post by Shag
Those of you that visit the opengl.org forums will be aware that the nvidia guys that go there are definately biased towards OpenGL.

Seems your understanding of causality is somewhat lacking...

"If there is a God, he is a malign thug."
-- Mark Twain

Shag

Mar 4, 2003 at 11:47 AM

What?

deadalive

Mar 4, 2003 at 11:56 AM

Don''t worry I had to look it up too

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=causality
causality
n : the relation between causes and effects

Shag

Mar 4, 2003 at 12:04 PM

LMAO

I understand what the words meant!

I just thought it was a rather pointless post to make - ie no substance whatsoever!

I made a factual comment. He made an anal response.

Bloody Europeans for ya

yzzid

Mar 4, 2003 at 12:30 PM

From what I understand, OpenGL drivers are more of a bear to implement for hardware manufacturers than DirectX. Mostly because of the strict OpenGL compliance requirements. That''s just what I read somewhere; not sure of the source.

-dizzy

benjamin bunny

Mar 4, 2003 at 1:09 PM

quote:
Original post by Shag
"so if chip makers were to design DX-only-optimized chips, like you want ..."

I think you''ll find that the actual manufacturers prefer OpenGL by a long shot. If DX ceased to exist they probably wouldn''t give a monkies!

Those of you that visit the opengl.org forums will be aware that the nvidia guys that go there are definately biased towards OpenGL. Probably the ATI lot too.

A lot of the nvidia guys were poached from SGI, which goes some way to explaining the bias. There''s also the fact that vendors would probably rather not have MS dictate every new feature to them. With OpenGL, they decide (through the ARB) which features get added, and OpenGL''s extension mechanism means they can add new features instantly if they want to. OpenGL isn''t going anywhere.

The danger is that MS can take legal action to cripple the programmable part of OpenGL 2.0 (its key feature). The timing of the resignation does not look good.

Raduprv

Mar 4, 2003 at 4:40 PM

Can M$ (or anyone else) actually pattent the idea of vertex/pixel fragments programming?

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