Jaymis is getting ready to go on tour with a rockstar, and I’m dreaming of geeky OpenGL implementations for 3D eye candy. Don’t worry; we’ll make the two worlds fit together eventually.
Here’s the latest from OpenGL land. First, perhaps the days of Java lagging in OpenGL implementation are done. The updated 1.1.0 JOGL bindings support OpenGL 2.1 and NVIDIA GeForce 8800 extensions, for groovy geometry shaders and other good stuff. Let’s see, that puts Java’s OpenGL bindings well ahead of OpenGL 2.1 implementation on Mac OS X, which isn’t due until the fall. (Just a binding, but still.) And you should be able to experiment with OpenGL 2.1 and the NVIDIA extensions from within Processing.
And Vista? OpenGL runs just fine on Vista, according to the Khronos OpenGL ARB Working Group. (Hey, aren’t they the ones cloning the President’s nose? Sorry, Woody Allen reference.) It’s compatible. It benefits from Vista, somehow. And it’s competitive with XP. Of course, all of this is in theory; in practice, drivers from NVIDIA in particular seem … not so fresh, performance and stability wise, at least in my experience. I expect this situation may improve over coming months.
Enough geekiness. Simple translation: Java for OpenGL rocks! OpenGL will run well on Vista on all drivers someday.