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A comment on New DirectX 12-to-Metal translation could bring a world of Window games to macOS.

Re:New DirectX 12-to-Metal translation could bring a world o... by jsheard on Monday June 05, 2023 @02:20PM (#36200657)
The mention of MoltenVK implies this isn't DX12-to-Metal, but rather DX12-to-Vulkan-to-Metal. That's probably the best way to leverage existing open source work but jeez, it sounds like a house of cards.
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Re:New DirectX 12-to-Metal translation could bring a world o... by ChuckNorris89 on Monday June 05, 2023 @02:36PM (#36200943)
That's thanks to Apple's courage.
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Re:New DirectX 12-to-Metal translation could bring a world o... by pjmlp on Monday June 05, 2023 @02:43PM (#36201061)
Hardly any different from game consoles.
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Re:New DirectX 12-to-Metal translation could bring a world o... by ChuckNorris89 on Monday June 05, 2023 @02:58PM (#36201391)
Macs are sold as general purpose computers, not fixed function consoles designed to only run appstore select games.
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Re:New DirectX 12-to-Metal translation could bring a world o... by pjmlp on Monday June 05, 2023 @03:29PM (#36202207)
Hardly any different from Windows then.

In case you feel like mentioning Vulkan, it doesn't come in the box, works thanks to plugging into OpenGL ICD driver model and via GPU vendors, not OS vendor, and it isn't supported in all scenarios where DirectX is.

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Re:New DirectX 12-to-Metal translation could bring a world o... by ChuckNorris89 on Monday June 05, 2023 @03:48PM (#36202500)
>Hardly any different from Windows then.

How so?

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Re:New DirectX 12-to-Metal translation could bring a world o... by pjmlp on Tuesday June 06, 2023 @02:56AM (#36209148)
DirectX is the official API, OpenGL and Vulkan only work because of backwards compatibility Microsoft never got rid of ICD ABI they introduced back when OpenGL in Windows NT was a thing.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/d...

That is how GPU vendor drivers expose OpenGL and Vulkan, via ICD, they aren't even supported on the Windows SDK, it is up to you to get the header files and libraries to link against the DLLs provided by the GPU vendors.

From Windows SDK point of view, OpenGL 1.1 is what is shipped in the box.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/OpenGL/openg...

Even the "OpenGL improvements" introduced in Windows 8 rely on DirectX 3D APIs, https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/d...

There is no support for OpenGL/Vulkan on UWP, XBox, HoloLens, Win32 sandboxes, while OpenGL/Vulkan on WSL are exposed via a DirectX driver wrapper, similar to MoltenVK.

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Re:New DirectX 12-to-Metal translation could bring a world o... by ChuckNorris89 on Tuesday June 06, 2023 @05:25AM (#36210230)
So very different then Mac then.
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Re:New DirectX 12-to-Metal translation could bring a world o... by pjmlp on Tuesday June 06, 2023 @03:38PM (#36218032)
Mac uses own API, Metal. Windows uses own API, DirectX.

OpenGL is legacy on Mac. OpenGL relies on a legacy ICD ABI on Windows.

Vulkan uses MoltenVK on Mac. Vulkan either uses legacy OpenGL ICD ABI on Windows, or relies on DirectX 12 translation layer, while WSL relies on dxgkrnl, a VM host driver that translates GL/Vulkan into DirectX as well.

Pretty much alike.

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Re:New DirectX 12-to-Metal translation could bring a world o... by kcb on Monday June 05, 2023 @11:12PM (#36207600)
Microsoft doesn't make GPUs.
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Re:New DirectX 12-to-Metal translation could bring a world o... by pjmlp on Tuesday June 06, 2023 @02:48AM (#36209065)
Yes they do, XBox and Surface devices GPUs are done in collaboration with hardware supplieers.
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Re:New DirectX 12-to-Metal translation could bring a world o... by musicale on Monday June 05, 2023 @08:08PM (#36206235)
macOS never really had the ability to run Windows games directly.

Either you ran a native macOS version/port of the game, or you ran a compatibility layer like Crossover, or you ran a Windows VM, or you rebooted into Windows using Boot Camp.

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