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I didn't have games in mind, really. I am not developing one. I would suggest Apple could do a better job of keeping up to date with more recent OpenGL specifi

by ANH 15y ago

I didn't have games in mind, really. I am not developing one. I would suggest Apple could do a better job of keeping up to date with more recent OpenGL specifications. In fact, I am suggesting it.

brudgers 15y ago
The ability to support a particular OpenGL standard is dependent on the hardware (software implementation aside). It is not something that Apple can choose to implement on less capable hardware. That's almost certainly why both Windows and Mac are running OpenGL 2.1 - OpenGL 2.1 is all the hardware will support. On the other hand, based on your report it appears that NVIDIA has invested more effort in the performance of their Windows driver than in the performance of their Mac driver. Given their economic interests and the fact that many people using their hardware under Windows are NVIDIA customers whereas the vast majority of people using their hardware are Apple customers, it is hardly surprising that they would do so. I will point out that for people who give a high priority to 3d graphic performance, there is little reason to select an Apple product - a meaningful range of hardware options simply does not exist and the drivers simply receive less attention. Keep in mind that one of the major differences between workstation class graphics cards such as NVIDIA's Quadro and gaming cards is the quality of the drivers - the same GPU's are often used in both segments with driver performance justifying much of the cost premium workstation cards command.
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- ANH 15y ago
  > ...for people who give a high priority to 3d graphic performance, there is little reason to select an Apple product As a software developer, I much prefer working in the OS X environment and living with this hardware on my desk. I can run Windows on my machine with little difficulty with full driver support for the graphics card, so there is little reason for me to select a non-Apple machine. My specific complaint (whine?) is the difference in performance between Apple's OpenGL and Direct3D 9 on the exact same hardware. I am not qualified to argue more about the limits of particular hardware, drivers, or libraries. But I expect comparable performance between the two. Didn't I start this by saying I don't blame Apple? Go figure. Edit: I can confirm that under Windows my graphics card supports OpenGL 3.2. Under OS X, I only get support up to 2.1 (plus selected extensions). In this case, it is a software issue. It is believed that the next OS X release (Lion) will provide OpenGL 3+ support. I eagerly await its arrival.
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by ANH 15y ago

I didn't have games in mind, really. I am not developing one. I would suggest Apple could do a better job of keeping up to date with more recent OpenGL specifications. In fact, I am suggesting it.

brudgers 15y ago

The ability to support a particular OpenGL standard is dependent on the hardware (software implementation aside). It is not something that Apple can choose to implement on less capable hardware. That's almost certainly why both Windows and Mac are running OpenGL 2.1 - OpenGL 2.1 is all the hardware will support. On the other hand, based on your report it appears that NVIDIA has invested more effort in the performance of their Windows driver than in the performance of their Mac driver. Given their economic interests and the fact that many people using their hardware under Windows are NVIDIA customers whereas the vast majority of people using their hardware are Apple customers, it is hardly surprising that they would do so. I will point out that for people who give a high priority to 3d graphic performance, there is little reason to select an Apple product - a meaningful range of hardware options simply does not exist and the drivers simply receive less attention. Keep in mind that one of the major differences between workstation class graphics cards such as NVIDIA's Quadro and gaming cards is the quality of the drivers - the same GPU's are often used in both segments with driver performance justifying much of the cost premium workstation cards command.

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ANH 15y ago
> ...for people who give a high priority to 3d graphic performance, there is little reason to select an Apple product As a software developer, I much prefer working in the OS X environment and living with this hardware on my desk. I can run Windows on my machine with little difficulty with full driver support for the graphics card, so there is little reason for me to select a non-Apple machine. My specific complaint (whine?) is the difference in performance between Apple's OpenGL and Direct3D 9 on the exact same hardware. I am not qualified to argue more about the limits of particular hardware, drivers, or libraries. But I expect comparable performance between the two. Didn't I start this by saying I don't blame Apple? Go figure. Edit: I can confirm that under Windows my graphics card supports OpenGL 3.2. Under OS X, I only get support up to 2.1 (plus selected extensions). In this case, it is a software issue. It is believed that the next OS X release (Lion) will provide OpenGL 3+ support. I eagerly await its arrival.
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