OpenGL 4.0 catches up with DirectX11

With OpenGL 4.0, non-Windows platforms will finally have access to all the features of DirectX 11 (DX11) hardware. Tessellation is now available (it’s the star feature of DX11) for game programmers, but there’s also an integration of general purpose computing that is better than in DirectX 11.

General purpose computing lets developer use the massive computing capabilities of GPUs for tasks that are not graphic (physics is a good example). DX11 has Direct Compute, which is an API for performing such non-graphic tasks, but Direct compute is really aimed at game developers. OpenCL, the computing equivalent of OpenGL, has a less specific approach and is seen as being more flexible by many. Finally, today’s advances in OpenGL 4.0 will eventually find its way to OpenGL ES, the mobile version. More info at opengl.org