OpenGL celebrates its 20th birthday with two new versions
Dave Fischer, via Wikipedia
The Khronos Group has released two new versions of its 3D graphics APIs. The mobile-oriented OpenGL ES specification has been given a major upgrade to version 3.0, and the desktop OpenGL specification has received a minor update to bring it to version 4.3.
After some years of stagnation and an abandoned attempt to radically change the way OpenGL worked—during which time Microsoft's Direct3D API progressed in leaps and bounds—the Khronos Group has been developing new iterations of the OpenGL standard at a regular clip. While Direct3D has still been first to standardize certain new features, the OpenGL designers are quickly picking them up and integrating them.
OpenGL ES has risen to prominence primarily on the back of the iPhone and Android. Both iOS and Android use OpenGL ES as their 3D API, and the enormous growth in smartphone gaming has made OpenGL ES a critical API for many developers.
