I'm asking becuase I keep seeing this over and over and over agian, and I want to know. I've looked over the spec for OpenGL and while it's not too bad for games or modelling, it doesn't have the features that Poser's current display method has, and it's hardware dependent. So I'm looking for explanations. I'm generally against it, but I'm not sure I have all the information. In general, what I've gathered so far is that folks want it becuase it's faster -- but I will not accept the only tangible gain of speed in exchange for my various shading modes and my hardware independence. So I'm dying to know -- what benefits do I gain from a switch to openGL?

thou and I, my friend, can, in the most flunkey world, make, each of us, one non-flunkey, one hero, if we like: that will be two heroes to begin with. (Carlyle)