3D API?

ATI and Accolade (now Infogrames) later used DirectDraw technology, which had been built in to Windows 95, to produce a 2D side-scroller game called Super Busby.

Microsoft wasn't sure what to do about the fifth item: a 3D API. There were four choices at the time: BRender from Argonaut Software, Renderware from Criterion Software, Reality Lab from Rendermorphics and OpenGL from Silicon Graphics (not really SGI, but still Silicon Graphics at the time). Microsoft had already invested in OpenGL, a project that was being overseen by graphics and optimization expert Michael Abrash (Abrash went on to write the graphics engine for Quake). But at that time most of the GamePC members were skeptical about whether OpenGL would ever be fast enough to be an effective game API.

Microsoft made the decision to buy Rendermorphics and the Reality Lab technology. The decision was influenced largely by two guys, Petchey and Simpson, who had been investigating 3D game APIs for their respective companies. They liked the fact that Reality Lab had a highly optimized software renderer. Reality Lab was modified by Microsoft's multimedia group to use DirectDraw as a video memory manager and then was renamed to Direct3D. Here's a link with a less-than-cheery perspective on the turmoil this caused in the 3D tools business at the time:

Crushed by Microsoft: What I learned

Abrash left Microsoft in protest and joined id Software.

3dfx, ATI and nVidia all jumped on the Microsoft 3D API bandwagon with chips that were designed to work specifically with Direct3D. Companies that subsequently failed to execute their 3D strategies were relegated to the list of also-rans of today's graphics industry: Trident, Cirrus Logic and Rendition. The Windows 3D game industry today is strong and consumers can now get a great 3D accelerator for less than $100.

But 3D on the PC is limited to games. Yes, there are few 3D font programs and some plug-ins that give a 3D look to PowerPoint but an expedition to the local CompUSA won't yield much in the way of professional or business applications for 3D hardware. Is 3D technology only useful for making the boobs on Lara Croft gyrate on screen or could there be real-world uses for 3D - things that would help a business user make money?

Ask SGI. They've got a long history of making pricey boxes that are used by science labs, design houses, and industrial design companies all over the world. Some of their customers are NASA, DoD, Industrial Light and Magic, and Pixar. If you're one of those people that actually reads the credits at the end of a movie, you'll have noticed that gets a mention in virtually every special effect flick that Hollywood turns out. All built with tools that use SGI's OpenGL API.