Difference between OpenGL & DirectX?

[Codex]

Originally Posted by Thunderbolt56

From an anorexic heroine junky behind the downtown convenience store that was drinking something from a paper bag...

LOL

Seriously though, the main difference b/n the two APIs is slowly becoming a non-issue in terms of graphical feature sets. OpenGL is opened sourced so it is perfectly adaptable to other OS platforms and IMO the code is much more user friendly. The down side is, it only handles graphics. OpenGL 2.1 (I think) is the official version, OpenGL3 is still some time away from being adopted.

DX on the other hand is a real biatch to code in (although DXUT is making things easier) but has follow the complicated COM system, but, it can be used for other devices besides the GPUs. DX makes things less complicated when dealing with things like sound cards and gaming input devices. Although is only available on Windows, it is an API that melds well in to the OS.

nVidia and ATI support both APIs on the cards we mainly use for this sim and I think it's mute to compare em this way. Both have their advantages and disadvantages and their fan boys/girls. I'm having fun learning DXUT at the moment, but the release of XNA 3.0 CTP has now really got my attention. It's a dream to code in but doesn't have joystick support (but there are ways around that )