AMD: OpenGL 4.1 Arrives On Windows, Linux

AMD releases new drivers with OpenGL 4.1 support.

AMD said on Monday that its new AMD Catalyst 10.12 drivers for consumer-based cards, now available on the AMD website, contain support for the OpenGL 4.1 standard. Support also arrives for ATI FirePro and ATI FireGL professional cards by way of a new unified driver (8.801). Both sets are now available for customers using Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP and Linux platforms.

"AMD has a long tradition of supporting open industry standards, and with the announcement of support for OpenGL 4.1, we continue to demonstrate that commitment," said Janet Matsuda, general manager, AMD professional graphics. "Maintaining OpenGL as a strong and viable graphics API is very important to AMD and we are proud to support the OpenGL development community."

Here's a list of what AMD's driver for OpenGL4.1 includes:

1. Full compatibility with the OpenGL 4.1 standard on AMD’s most recent graphics products including ATI FirePro V3800, ATI FirePro V4800, ATI FirePro V5800, ATI FirePro V7800, ATI FirePro V8800 and ATI FirePro V9800 and the AMD Radeon HD 6900 and AMD Radeon HD 6800 graphics cards:

• Improved OpenCL interoperability for accelerating computationally intensive visual applications
• Continued support for both the Core and Compatibility profiles first introduced with OpenGL 3.2, enabling developers to use a streamlined API or retain backwards compatibility for existing OpenGL code, depending on their needs
• Easier porting between mobile and desktop platforms with full OpenGL ES 2.0 API compatibility
• Ability to query and load a binary for shader program objects to save re-compilation time
• Capability to bind programs individually to programmable stages for programming flexibility
• Higher geometric precision with 64-bit floating-point component vertex shader inputs
• Increased rendering flexibility with multiple viewports for a rendering surface

2. Support for new ARB extension introduced with OpenGL 4.1:

• Ability to set stencil values in a fragment shader for enhanced rendering flexibility
• Callback mechanisms to receive enhanced errors and warning messages

To download the new drivers, head here.