Possible Problems with Celestia and Windows Vista!

[Unfound]

Let me phrase the question clearer, Mr. Edwards (and I do not say that sacastically, but with all due respect) and others:


What is the best alternative to Microsoft?


This way, I can take care of my question quicker (I have no desire to hijack your thread, Mr. Edwards)

[julesstoop]

OK, I promise this will be my last annoying off-topic post. Were can I get tons of UNBIASED info (including comparisons to Windows) on Solaris and Mac OS X? :)

Try:

http://www.xvsxp.com

for an extensive comparison between XP and 10.4 (as desktop osses).

[Christophe]

Solaris is not a Desktop OS, at least not on the x86 platform, mainly because of the lack of drivers. And it is obviously geared towards professional use.

What is the best alternative to Microsoft?

There is no single answer to this question. It all depends on your usage paterns, your current IT knowledge, your motivations to quit using Windows, your ability/desire to learn something new, etc...

OS X is nice because it's both very user friendly with lots of commercial software availbable and a full blown Unix giving you access to the huge free software Unix library. Its main drawback is its price, you have to first buy a Mac (starts at $500) and then fork another $100 every year to stay up to date.

Linux can be an option if:
- you are ready to spend a fair amount of time learning something totally different and farely technical,
- you don't care if you won't be able to play most commercial games,
- there is no Windows software that you have to have.

You can give Linux a try very easily with one of the many "Live" distributions which require no installation and can be run directly from the CD/DVD. Knoppix for example.

[julesstoop]

@Christophe, OS X development has slowed down to about $60 per year nowadays 8)

[Spaceman Spiff]

Just hit the news stands....

SlashDot : Windows Vista May Degrade OpenGL ( http://slashdot.org/articles/05/08/06/1 ... 09&tid=152 ).

OpenGL want to fight back. Check OpenGL ( http://www.opengl.org/ ) itself.

Spiff.

[Don. Edwards]

Yes this isn't sounding good at all. I hate to say this and broach the subject, and it may seem a sacrilege to many, but we may need to consider the possibility of creating a Direct X version of Celestia for the future. I personally have no idea how difficult this would be but I am sure it could be done. This would cause a fork in the Celestia tree of course but it may be the only viable option for Celestia to move forward on the Windows platform. Of course the good old OpenGL builds could and should continue for those that will continue to use Xp, 2000, ME, 98SE, ect....... But more options is always a good thing.

I know all the features we now have in Celestia would be supported in Direct X plus many more. If we look at Orbiter as an example we can see that it works and looks very good and it is totally Direct X and has a few feature we have been asking Chris to implement the last few years.
Of course this is just a suggestion at this point. But I do think that the option should be left open for discussion and consideration for those on the Windows platform.

Don.

[lukr]

I fully agree, Don.

[Christophe]

Please note that the OpenGL through D3D is only for "offical drivers", ie those provided by MS. You can still install full OpenGL 2.0 drivers from you graphic card manufacturer. The downside is that apparently you then lose the Aeroglass eye candy.

This is from a 3DLab employee on the OpenGL.org forum:

As soon as an ICD is loaded the composited desktop is turned off on Windows Vista. If you want the composited desktop Aeroglass experience, you will need to make your application go through Microsoft's OpenGL implementation, which is layered on top of DirectX. As pointed out earlier, this layering can have performance implications. Their implementation supports OpenGL version 1.4 only, without extension support.

We believe it possible to provide an ICD with full composited desktop support while adhering to the stability and security requirements in Windows Vista. But we need Microsoft's help in doing so.

So for now it's either Aeroglass or full OpenGL support on Vista, but this is still subject to change.

[Rassilon]

Like I said Don, centOS is your best bet for Linux....If your interested Ill send you a copy via mail....PM me if you want it....

[Don. Edwards]

Wow!
Word of Microsofts OpenGL plans all plastered all over the internet. This is the kind of bad publicity that gets things fixed. Microsoft better watchout because the S**t is definetly hitting the fan over this.

Don.