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#! rnews 2316 bsd Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!nntp.coast.net!news.kei.com!news.mathworks.com!tank.news.pipex.net!pipex!lade.news.pipex.net!pipex!tube.news.pipex.net!pipex!dish.news.pipex.net!pipex!madge.co.uk!news From: Ian Griffiths <igriffit@dev.madge.com> Newsgroups: comp.graphics.api.misc,comp.graphics.algorithms,comp.windows.x.i386unix,gnu.misc.discuss,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.os.linux.development.apps Subject: Re: Freeware community needs 3d library NOW Date: Tue, 25 Jun 1996 12:27:47 +0100 Organization: Madge Networks Lines: 32 Message-ID: <31CFCD33.4452@dev.madge.com> References: <4qlf04$7pj@guysmiley.blarg.net> <4qnpmn$l2m@news1.halcyon.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 193.35.3.65 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Mozilla 2.0 (WinNT; I) Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.graphics.api.misc:618 comp.graphics.algorithms:28908 comp.windows.x.i386unix:20342 gnu.misc.discuss:26688 comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:22087 comp.os.linux.development.apps:18001 Tim Smith wrote: > > I haven't specifically looked at the environment that a > Direct3d driver runs in, but Microsoft has been moving for the > last few years toward making the drivers that deal with > hardware in Windows (all versions, including NT and 95) reside > in clean layers that don't really have much, if any, knowledge > of Windows. (E.g., look at NT miniport drivers sometime. > Those things could be adapted to any modern operating system > that has a decently designed I/O system). It would doubtless be possible to run NT drivers inside some other OSs, at least at a source compatibility level and probably even for binary compatibility. However it's difficult to see how it could be done efficiently without buying into NT's IO layering model and at least some of the associated data structures. And the number of functions the drivers have access to is actually pretty large. Miniport drivers are a bit better, in that they have a strictly limited environment in which they must run precisely to make them more portable. Does slow things down a bit though. > I'd be surprised if the Direct3d drivers specifically have to > run in a Windows environment. I wonder just how feasible it would be though. -- Ian Griffiths