Great hardware, without the right kind of software, amounts to nothing, and for those who has the Google Chrome as your favorite Web browser on your desktop or notebook, take note that the latest stable channel release of Chrome delivers improvements to both Canvas2D’s speed and WebGL’s reach. GPU-accelerated Canvas2D on capable Windows and Mac computers have been enabled, and when you translate that into everyday English, it would mean your array of web applications such as games will be able to offer a higher level of performance compared to a pure software implementation. Prior ot this, GPU-accelerated Canvas2D was enabled in the Beta channel for some time already, so hopefully that window of opportunity will see developers play around with it to their hearts’ content in order to make the most out of the situation.
WebGL drives 3D content on the Web, so Google has enabled SwiftShader, a software rasterizer licensed from TransGaming, in order to cater for folks running on more archaic configurations. Just bear in mind that a software-powered WebGL implementation is not going to work as efficiently as one that runs on an actual GPU. Internet Explorer 9 has been running on Canvas2D for some time already, so it is no surprise to see Google follow suit.