Comparison of OpenGL and Direct3D. Direct3D and OpenGL are competing application programming interfaces (APIs) which can be used in applications to render 2D and 3D computer graphics. Hardware acceleration of this process has been commonplace since approximately 1999. [dubious ] As of 2005[update], graphics processing units (GPUs) almost always implement a particular version of both of these APIs, such as these examples: DirectX 9 and OpenGL 2 circa 2004; DirectX 10 and OpenGL 3 circa 2008; and most recently, DirectX 11 and OpenGL 4 circa 2011.
GPUs that support more recent versions of the standards are backwards-compatible with applications that utilize the older standards; for example, one can run older DirectX 9 games on a more recent DirectX 11-certified GPU. Availability[edit] Direct3D application development generally targets the Microsoft Windows platform. In more detail, the two computer graphics APIs are the following: OpenGL and Direct3D are both implemented in the display driver. Portability[edit] Direct3D[edit] Irrlicht Engine - A free open source 3d engine. OGRE – Open Source 3D Graphics Engine. Horde3D - Next-Generation Graphics Engine. Game Engines.