Silicon Graphics Gave Away the Software That Killed It

In 1992 Silicon Graphics published its own graphics language as a free open standard, and put Microsoft on the committee that governed it. Five years later a $300 card in a home PC was speaking that language well enough to run the most popular 3D game on earth. The usual explanation is that cheap PCs caught up. That is true, and it is the last thing that happened rather than the first. This is the story of the two decisions underneath it: OpenGL in 1992, and Fahrenheit in 1997. SOURCES Silicon Graphics and Microsoft Form Strategic Alliance To Define the Future of Graphics, Microsoft press release, December 17, 1997 https://news.microsoft.com/source/199... MS quietly dumps Windows OpenGL support, John Lettice, The Register, November 29, 1999 https://www.theregister.com/1999/11/2... Silicon Graphics Indigo2 review, Personal Computer World, May 1993 http://www.sgidepot.co.uk/pcw5-93i2.html SGI debuts NT workstations, Dan Verton, FCW, January 10, 1999 https://www.nextgov.com/digital-gover... Fallen star SGI to sell most assets for $25M, Associated Press, April 1, 2009 https://phys.org/news/2009-04-fallen-... The story of the 3dfx Voodoo1, Fabien Sanglard, April 4, 2019 https://www.fabiensanglard.net/3dfx_s...