Microsoft Enables OpenGL 4.6 Support Over Direct3D 12

The week began with Microsoft taking its Mesa Direct3D 12 code from OpenGL 4.3 to OpenGL 4.4 and then a short time after that reaching OpenGL 4.5. Microsoft now closed out the week by managing to get OpenGL 4.6 implemented atop Direct3D 12.

This Mesa code is for enabling GL-On-D3D12 for cases like Windows on ARM devices lacking native OpenGL drivers or cases like WSL-g for allowing graphics access to Windows Subsystem for Linux via D3D12. For where it was at OpenGL 4.3 at the start of the week on Mesa Git, OpenGL 4.6 is now possible along with the relevant SPIR-V pieces.

Jesse Natalie of Microsoft has become a prolific contributor to Mesa. With code merged yesterday he's implemented the remaining extensions for OpenGL 4.6 as well as flipped the switch on SPIR-V support. This merge is a great milestone for those having to resort on the latest OpenGL capabilities while being trapped within Microsoft's confines and lacking native OpenGL driver support.

OpenGL 4.6 debuted in 2017 with many new features for OpenGL while since then obviously much of the graphics API focus has transitioned to Vulkan.