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OpenGL

vjkatzavjkatza
in MAIN
So Apple is deprecating OpenGL & as usual acts like a Giant.
I guess eventually MacOS will be replaced with iOS & self made CPUs.
How should we react on this & what is the future of Millumin?

Comments

  • MilluminMillumin
    edited June 2018
    Hello @vjkatza,

    No future, sorry ...
    Well, just kidding :)


    # I guess eventually MacOS will be replaced with iOS & self made CPUs.
    Well, I really don't think so. Some applications could be shared between the 2 platforms and Apple is experimenting tools to do so. This is interesting and could be very smart for simple applications (Day One, Tweetbot, Spotify, Slack, Whatsapp, ...) : of course, there will be different layouts depending on the platform (one for iPhone, one for iPad, one for desktop).
    There isn't something new there, just Apple trying to make such tasks easier, and from a developer point-of-view, this is great.


    # Deprecating OpenGL
    It's already more or less deprecated by Khronos : Vulkan is the future and I'm pretty sure OpenGL 5 won't never happen.

    We've been using OpenGL for ages, but keep in mind it was conceived 25 years ago. Things have changed a lot since then : user interfaces, hardwares, non-graphic computation, multiple gpus, object-oriented API, debugging features badly needed, ... A few years ago, I told myself : "we are at a crossroads", especially because brand new API were rising all at the same time (DirectX 12, Vulkan and Metal).
    So it's definitly time to evolve. For good I mean. But for what ? In terms of multi-platform, Vulkan seems the solution (available on Windows, Mac and Linux), despite it's quite complex to use : fortunately, high level frameworks, such as VkHLF, are happening.
    On the contrary, Metal is quite a nice API to work with. It's very well designed : I recently worked on a Metal port for Syphon, and it was very fast. Ok, it's not cross-platform, but it does the job very efficiently.

    In brief : Vulkan should be embrassed by all cross-platform developpers, and other developers looking for good API to work on a specific platform can take DirectX 12 or Metal (they shouldn't be disappointed). OpenGL will still stay for years, even on macOS, but support from Khronos and other companies will decline (it already started).

    For example in 2012/2013, I guess we're among the first to migrate our softwares from QTKit to AVFoundation. At first, it was daunting but the advantages were very appealing : 64-bits support, faster rendering movie pipeline, modern API, ... At the end, the transition was achieved quickly, and we've been very happy since then.
    On the other side, QTKit became deprecated 5 years ago, but it still works in latest macOS High Sierra (for example Modul8 2.9). Deprecated doesn't mean dead.


    # How should we react on this & what is the future of Millumin?
    There is nothing new in this announcement by Apple, as explained above. Apple is just encouraging developers to migrate to a more up-to-date API : Metal or Vulkan. Let's be honnest, it's the same for other platforms.
    Millumin will stay for long, has a future, and as always, we'll adapt and evolve. We already did it, and will go on.


    # Any good in Apple WWDC ?
    Yes, especially about Apple making a lot of effort to support eGPU.
    And I bet hardware announcements will follow this year.


    Best. Philippe


  • vjkatzavjkatza
    Thank you Philippe for this comprehensive explanation,
    I really hope for a bright pixeled future :)


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