-Mesa is an open-source implementation of the -OpenGL specification - +The Mesa project began as an open-source implementation of the +OpenGL specification - a system for rendering interactive 3D graphics.
-A variety of device drivers allows Mesa to be used in many different -environments ranging from software emulation to complete hardware acceleration -for modern GPUs. +Over the years the project has grown to implement more graphics APIs, +including +OpenGL ES (versions 1, 2, 3), +OpenCL, +VDPAU and +Vulkan.
-Mesa ties into several other open-source projects: the -Direct Rendering -Infrastructure and X.org to -provide OpenGL support to users of X on Linux, FreeBSD and other operating +A variety of device drivers allows the Mesa libraries to be used in many +different environments ranging from software emulation to complete hardware +acceleration for modern GPUs. +
+ ++Mesa ties into several other open-source projects: the +Direct Rendering +Infrastructure and X.org to +provide OpenGL support on Linux, FreeBSD and other operating systems.
@@ -85,7 +94,7 @@ the OpenGL API, so they didn't feel threatened by the project. 1995-1996: I continue working on Mesa both during my spare time and during my work hours at the Space Science and Engineering Center at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. My supervisor, Bill Hibbard, lets me do this because -Mesa is now being using for the Vis5D project. +Mesa is now being using for the Vis5D project.October 1996: Mesa 2.0 is released. It implements the OpenGL 1.1 specification.
@@ -142,7 +151,7 @@ and OpenGL Shading Language.2008: Keith Whitwell and other Tungsten Graphics employees develop -Gallium +Gallium - a new GPU abstraction layer. The latest Mesa drivers are based on Gallium and other APIs such as OpenVG are implemented on top of Gallium.
@@ -152,14 +161,22 @@ February 2012: Mesa 8.0 is released, implementing the OpenGL 3.0 specification and version 1.30 of the OpenGL Shading Language. ++July 2016: Mesa 12.0 is released, including OpenGL 4.3 support and initial +support for Vulkan for Intel GPUs. Plus, there's another gallium software +driver ("swr") based on LLVM and developed by Intel. +
+Ongoing: Mesa is the OpenGL implementation for several types of hardware made by Intel, AMD and NVIDIA, plus the VMware virtual GPU. There's also several software-based renderers: swrast (the legacy -Mesa rasterizer), softpipe (a gallium reference driver) and llvmpipe -(LLVM/JIT-based high-speed rasterizer). +Mesa rasterizer), softpipe (a gallium reference driver), llvmpipe +(LLVM/JIT-based high-speed rasterizer) and swr (another LLVM-based driver). +
+Work continues on the drivers and core Mesa to implement newer versions -of the OpenGL specification. +of the OpenGL, OpenGL ES and Vulkan specifications.
@@ -173,6 +190,30 @@ of the OpenGL specification is implemented. ++Version 12.x of Mesa implements the OpenGL 4.3 API, but not all drivers +support OpenGL 4.3. +
++Initial support for Vulkan is also included. +
+ + ++Version 11.x of Mesa implements the OpenGL 4.1 API, but not all drivers +support OpenGL 4.1. +
+ + ++Version 10.x of Mesa implements the OpenGL 3.3 API, but not all drivers +support OpenGL 3.3. +
+ +Version 9.x of Mesa implements the OpenGL 3.1 API. @@ -182,6 +223,10 @@ community contributed features required for OpenGL 3.1. The primary features added since the Mesa 8.0 release are GL_ARB_texture_buffer_object and GL_ARB_uniform_buffer_object.
++Version 9.0 of Mesa also included the first release of the Clover state +tracker for OpenCL. +
See the - + OpenGL specification for more details.