VMD-L Mailing List

From: Eugene Leitl (eugene.leitl_at_lrz.uni-muenchen.de)
Date: Wed Jan 19 2000 - 19:21:19 CST

(((FYI, GeForce 256 is now supported by the nvidia.com drivers,
   albeit not yet accelerated)))

http://www.nvidia.com/Marketing/NewsAndEvents/Pages.nsf/pages/pr_011800

NVIDIA, SGI and VA Linux To Bring Graphics Standard To Desktop Linux
Market

Three Companies Collaborate To Deliver First Hardware-Accelerated
OpenGL Conformant Desktop Graphics for Linux

SANTA CLARA, CA - JANUARY 18, 2000 - NVIDIA[tm] Corporation (Nasdaq:
NVDA), SGI (NYSE: SGI) and VA Linux Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: LNUX) today
announced their collaboration on the industry's first
professional-level OpenGL® graphics sub-system for workstations
running Linux. This planned platform would be the first 100% OpenGL
1.2-conformant hardware-accelerated graphics solution to bring
professional workstation graphics standards to the Linux
market. Developers using Linux desktop systems equipped with the new
graphics sub-system will be able to utilize the depth of the OpenGL
graphics application programming interface (API) to create
professional quality 2D and 3D graphics applications. The first public
demonstration of the collaborative effort will be shown during
LinuxWorld, February 2 -4, 2000, in New York City.

The triad's unique technology will bring to Linux desktops many of the
capabilities typically associated with UNIX® systems. This technology
will enable Linux systems to process rich graphics as fast, or faster,
than their Microsoft® Windows®-based counterparts. The solution
leverages SGI's extensive 3D graphics and OpenGL expertise, VA Linux
Systems' 2D graphics and multi-monitor work and NVIDIA's proven 3D
graphics hardware and software architectures. The resulting
NVIDIA-based desktops will be the first to provide hardware 3D
transform and lighting, hardware 2D and video acceleration, video
overlay, multi-monitor capability and full native OpenGL conformance
under Linux. The project will give Linux developers the ability to
seamlessly integrate their applications with the industry-leading
OpenGL graphics API. This graphics processing power and compatibility
is a fundamental step in enabling the development of professional
Linux applications such as those for manufacturing, digital content
creation, electronic business, education and entertainment.

"This is a breakthrough for the Linux market," stated Jen-Hsun Huang,
president and CEO at NVIDIA. "For the first time, developers will have
access to a high-performance, fully native Linux graphics platform."

"It has always been a goal of Silicon Graphics to drive the
pervasiveness of 3D graphics," said Drew Henry, vice president and
general manager at SGI. "Developers will soon be able to leverage
OpenGL as the enabling foundation for 3D acceleration on all flavors
of UNIX including Linux. This technology further enables both hardware
and software developers to enjoy the creative freedom of utilizing a
single graphics API across all computing systems."

"We believe that exceptional graphics acceleration, with standard
programming interfaces and tuned Linux driver support, could be
integral to the success of Linux on the desktop." said Brian Biles,
vice president of marketing at VA Linux Systems. "We are excited to
collaborate with NVIDIA and SGI to help create high performance,
standards-compliant products in the Linux workstation space,
complementing the work we contribute to the open source community in
the Mesa and XFree86 projects."

"The Linux workstation market is poised to take off quickly, as long
as the number of applications continues to grow," said Pia Rieppo,
principal analyst for workstations at Dataquest/Gartner Group. "One of
the critical factors limiting Linux applications development thus far
has been the lack of OpenGL graphics support for Linux."

About NVIDIA
NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA), the world's leading supplier
of performance 3D graphics processors, is the only independent
top-to-bottom supplier of 3D graphics solutions for mainstream PCs.
NVIDIA designs, markets and sells an award-winning family of 3D
processors, delivering industry-leading performance and visual
quality for a broad range of PC-based applications, including
enterprise visualization, e-commerce, e-business, education and
entertainment. Used by the top PC OEMs in the world, NVIDIA's
products are distributed through a worldwide channel that includes PC
OEM, add-in card and motherboard partners in Europe, Asia and
North America. For more information, please visit the Company's
web site at http://www.nvidia.com.

About SGI
SGI provides a broad range of high-performance computing and
advanced graphics solutions that enable customers to understand and
conquer their toughest computing problems. Headquartered in
Mountain View, Calif., with offices worldwide, the company is located
on the Web at www.sgi.com.

VA Linux Systems
VA Linux Systems, Inc. is the leading provider of Linux-based
solutions, integrating systems, software and services. VA Linux's
broad-based technical expertise in systems and software design, as
well as its focus on the Linux operating system and other open source
solutions, enables the company to provide high-quality Linux-based
systems designed for optimal performance, reliability and scalability.
VA also offers comprehensive services and support through its staff of
Linux system and software engineers. VA Linux Systems is
headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., and is located on the web at
http://www.valinux.com.

About OpenGL
Introduced in 1992 by SGI, OpenGL is the premier environment for
developing portable, interactive 2D and 3D graphics applications. A
low-level, vendor-neutral software interface, OpenGL provides
enormous flexibility and functionality and the broadest platform
accessibility in the industry today. Applications in fields such as CAD,
content creation, energy, entertainment, gaming, manufacturing,
medical, visual simulation and more have benefited from the OpenGL
graphics platform.