By Dan Jones
Microsoft Corp is refusing to comment on reports that its Fahrenheit collaborative graphics project with SGI has collapsed because of the Mountain View, California workstation maker’s support for its own OpenGL graphics application programming interface (API) on Linux. However, a source close to SGI said the company is not going to be able to work with Microsoft on Fahrenheit, while it tries to push OpenGL on Linux.
Microsoft is now thought to be carrying on without SGI, and with Hewlett Packard developing graphics chips that support the Fahrenheit API. Nvidia Corp is also working on the project.
A spokesperson for Microsoft refused to comment on the suggestion that the collaboration had broken down because of SGI’s support for Linux. It is Microsoft’s practice to not comment on rumors or speculations, so I will not be able to speak to what your sources have stated, She said.
The Fahrenheit graphics architecture is supposed to combine elements of HP’s DirectModel 3D rendering technology with SGI’s high-end 3D OpenGL interfaces, and Microsoft’s Direct X APIs. The original plan was that the system would work across both Windows NT and SGI’s Irix Unix. However, since the project started late in 1997, little solid evidence of progress has emerged, although HP says it will be using Fahrenheit as an API in systems coming out early next year.
