Re: Linux and Multimedia Processors

[turnbull@example.com (Stephen J. Turnbull)]

>>>>> "George" == George M Dapat <george@example.com> writes:

    George> I want to know is if our favorite Linux will support them. 
    George> It looks like Windows 95 has an edge over Linux since
    George> Mpact processor, which incorporates SEVEN multimedia
    George> functions - video, 2D graphics, 3D graphics, audio,
    George> fax/modem, telephony, and videoconference, is supporting
    George> the Windows 95 API, whatever that means.

The place to ask these questions is in the developers' newsgroups
under comp.windows.x.* and comp.os.linux.*.

Of course Windows 95 has an edge over Linux; Bill's developers have
undoubtedly been working with alpha versions of the chip since the
beginning, as have other big-time commercial multimedia developers.
But if Mpact is really going to support the Windows 95 API *and* that
API is efficiently supported, this actually makes it more likely that
Linux will catch up quickly (unless Bill has found a way to patent or
copyright an API).  Linux developers can't individually afford to
support dozens of APIs for different chips, but if one public domain
API is supported by most of the big players, then they can combine
efforts.

One would imagine that the programmers at XFree86 are following this
keenly, as well as the developers of commercial X Window
implementations.  They would be the ones to ask (preferably via news).

-- 
                            Stephen J. Turnbull
Institute of Socio-Economic Planning                         Yaseppochi-Gumi
University of Tsukuba                      http://turnbull.sk.tsukuba.ac.jp/
Tennodai 1-1-1, Tsukuba, 305 JAPAN                 turnbull@example.com