As a service to the OpenGL community, and for those of you who have difficulty understanding corporate language, I have taken it upon myself to provide a handy translation of Microsoft's FAQ: (see http://www.opengl.org/News/Events&Notices/w2k.html for the original). > FAQ on Fahrenheit and OpenGL at Microsoft > December 1, 1999 > > Fahrenheit Status > > Is the Fahrenheit Project still alive? > > Absolutely. Microsoft continues to invest in Fahrenheit and >believes it is very important technology. The first deliverable of the >Fahrenheit initiative, the Fahrenheit Scene Graph (FSG), will be shipped by >Microsoft to beta sites by the end of the year. It will include the Large >Model and Game extensions. A final version is expected sometime in the >first half of 2000. Feedback from our alpha sites has been very positive. > Translation: Fahrenheit is not so much alive as undead. Using a combination of black magic and guerilla marketing, we have managed to resurrect the remaining bloody pieces of Fahrenheit into a zombie-like replica of its original self. Given the extraordinary success of previous high-level graphics APIs such as PHIGS, Quickdraw 3D, Inventor and OpenGL Optimizer, we believe Fahrenheit will have a long and successful afterlife. > I heard SGI has dropped out of Fahrenheit, what is their position? > > You should contact SGI for their comments on this topic. >Regardless of SGI's level of involvement, Microsoft remains diligently >engaged in bringing Fahrenheit technology to market and continues to support >this initiative. Translation: SGI did not so much drop out of Fahrenheit as run away screaming. We hear that many of the SGI engineers have completed their ritualistic burning of Fahrenheit documentation and are now able to hear the word "Fahrenheit" without crying. > Will FSG be available on any UNIX platforms? > > Microsoft is working with 3rd parties on cross platform solutions >for AIX, Solaris, HP-UX, and IRIX. The goal is to have FSG supported on >these platforms within a few months after the final release of FSG for >Windows. Translation: FSG will be available on all UNIX platforms that we can convince somebody else to do half-assed ports to, as long as they promise not run on Intel and therefore compete with Windows. > What about support for other platforms like Linux? > > We are currently investigating support other platforms based on >customer input. We have no announcements to make at this time. Translation: We will support FSG on Linux as soon as we open-source the Windows code base (or hell freezes over, whichever is sooner). > What about the Fahrenheit Low-Level API? > > Research in expanding the breadth of low level 3D API support is >on-going. Translation: We admit that FLL never really existed, and was just a clever trick to distract SGI and other graphics vendors whilst we desperately tried to make Direct3D useable. Hey everybody, look over there! > OpenGL Status > > Is Microsoft dropping support for OpenGL? > > Absolutely not. OpenGL is currently the preferred low level 3D API >for many professional graphics applications (e.g. those that support CAD and >Visual Simulation). For consumer graphics applications (e.g. those geared >toward entertainment), while the vast majority are written to Direct3D, >there are some that also choose OpenGL (e.g. Quake). Microsoft is committed >to providing ISVs what they need to get their graphics applications to >market and will continue to support OpenGL as well as Direct3D. Translation: As much as we'd like to drop support for OpenGL, that pesky Carmack guy and his buddies keep on releasing world-class games that only run with OpenGL. Our years of 3D graphics experience lead us to believe that the requirements of games are somehow but indescribably different from "professional" graphics applications and require a totally different and proprietary API which is much harder to learn and program. We are committed to "educating" ISVs to use our superior technology. > What's this about Microsoft investigating a standard OpenGL ICD >using DirectX drivers? > > While still in the early research stages, Microsoft is currently >investigating implementing a Microsoft Standard ICD that will use DirectX >drivers to provide full OpenGL functionality at high performance. This will >allow IHVs to build a single driver that will deliver both DirectX and >OpenGL functionality (currently, IHVs that support OpenGL write two drivers: >one for Direct3D and one for OpenGL). Translation: It has always been one of the guiding principles of Microsoft to insert as many software layers as possible between application code and the part that actually does something useful. We believe there are currently far too few layers between 3D graphics applications and the underlying hardware. OpenGL implemented on top of Direct3D will save IHVs all that tedious work of producing high quality, performance optimized OpenGL ICDs, and conveniently make it look like OpenGL is slower than D3D, while at the same time reducing OpenGL functionality to a subset of that of D3D. Rest assured that we will also continue to steal features from OpenGL and put them in D3D until it is almost impossible for us to tell the difference. > Will support for OpenGL ICDs be discontinued? > > No. In some segments, like those in the professional space, IHVs >may wish to continue developing and supporting ICDs. This may be >because of >competitive pressures to offer OpenGL API extensions or to implement custom >optimizations. It is up to the IHV whether they discontinue development of >OpenGL ICDs. Translation: While we would very much like to discontinue support for OpenGL ICDs, we do make a small amount of money from professional OpenGL applications (such as Softimage and our excellent" 3D pipes" screensaver), and don't want to lose this. ... > Where should I go to get an OpenGL ICD? > > Currently, users should contact the appropriate IHV or OEM to get >the latest OpenGL ICDs for Windows 2000 (e.g. download the driver from the >vendors web site). We will also post OpenGL ICDs that meet our quality >requirements on the Windows Update web site. Translation: Wherever, just don't come to us. > What version of OpenGL will be released with Windows 2000? > > Windows 2000 provides native support for OpenGL version 1.1. It >also allows IHVs to expose OpenGL 1.2 features and allows ISVs to access >those features through the standard OpenGL extension mechanism. Translation: We have always strived to prevent IHVs from providing any additional functionality that makes OpenGL look better than D3D. Unfortunately they have cleverly used our deliberately annoying wglGetProcAddress function to expose new features without our permission. Rest assured that future APIs will not allow such uncontrolled innovation.