New ATI and NVDIA Driver Updates Released Today

[GreatEmerald]

AMD Catalyst 9.1 for Linux!
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=amd_catalyst_91&num=1

The interesting part of the news:

The other significant feature of this release is the full OpenGL 3.0 support. The Catalyst 9.1 driver for Linux now supports ARB_framebuffer_object, ARB_half_float_vertex, ARB_texture_rg, EXT_texture_array, EXT_texture_integer, EXT_transform_feedback, NV_conditional_render, GLX_create_context, ARB_color_buffer_float, ARB_vertex_array_object, EXT_draw_buffers2, and there is GLSL 1.30 support. The proprietary NVIDIA driver for Linux has already supported OpenGL 3.0 / GLSL 1.30, but none of the open-source X.Org drivers for Linux implement this latest multi-platform graphics API.

This leads to a question... What OpenGL does Unreal use?

[GreatEmerald]

Catalyst 9.2 Released, Still Fails To Deliver XvBA

Catalyst 9.2 for Linux brings fixes for MythTV full-screen corruption, AMD Catalyst Control Center, Google Earth failing to start, some monitors not being detected when hot-plugging, audio output for HDMI, corruption in some Big Desktop setups, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars fix, some OpenGL applications no longer production a segmentation fault when running a dual-head CrossFire system, tearing no longer occurs with picture-in-picture playback on SuSE, MPlayer can now handle full-screen AVI files, and other video fixes.

Additionally, ATI Catalyst 9.2 was released for Windows two days ago.

[GreatEmerald]

Now this isn't driver news, but still very related to graphics:

X Server 1.6.0 Has Been Released

X Server 1.6 introduces the server bits for Direct Rendering Infrastructure 2 (the 3D bits can already be found in Mesa and the Intel driver), X Input 1.5 with device properties, Predictable Pointer Acceleration, and RandR 1.3. Beyond those key features, there are also a number of bug-fixes, EXA improvements, and various other improvements.

For those not interested in building all of the latest X.Org packages from source, most distributions should adopt these packages in their Q2'09 updates -- including Ubuntu 9.04 and Fedora 11. The proprietary NVIDIA driver is compatible with X Server 1.6, while the proprietary Catalyst driver from AMD doesn't yet offer any support for this updated X Server. Those using any of the open-source drivers shouldn't encounter any support hiccups.

Come on, ATI!

Anyway, this might mean that Wine will solve the cursed issue of Unreal engine games: DirectInput bug that is tied with emulating X Input.

[GreatEmerald]

A new WINE has been released, again with fixes for UT1:

Fixed:
14242 Unreal Tournament crashes on startup

Too bad the DirectInput "mouse is confined in an area" bug persists.