This article may contain URLs that were valid when originally published, but now link to sites or pages that no longer exist. To maintain the flow of the article, we've left these URLs in the text, but disabled the links.

ometimes an innovation just creeps up on you. We tend to concentrate on new PC features that the operating system or hardware vendors play up. However, a hardware revolution has taken place over the last few years that has gone relatively unnoticed by the programming population at large.
      This insight came to me at MacWorld a while back. Newly resurgent Apple was touting its latest wares. Swarms of Mac fans were positively perky at Apple�s new lease on lifeâ€"and for good reason. At center stage was the unveiling of the new Mac operating system, OS X. (That�s pronounced "OS ten".) OS X has a number of features that look interesting for users and developers alike.
      It�s the new lookâ€"named Aqua by the marketers at Appleâ€"that has users talking. It replaces the classic graphite on white Macintosh desktop. Now the desktop doesn�t simply use color, it employs all sorts of shades and 3D effects. The new look has translucent menus and animated buttons that indicate the default choice in a dialog. The effect is quite dazzling.
      Not that this new look is perfect. Apparently the designers at Apple determined that the public has finally memorized all the cryptic icons that replaced text 10 years ago. They have removed all symbology from three buttons on the left side of the title bar. The minimize, maximize, and close buttons are now identified only by their red, yellow, and green colors. I guess this will help the support line staff; "Press the green button" is much easier to follow than "Press the button that looks like an underline." But I�m not sure how it�s going to play to the user without someone helping them on the phone.
      And in an exciting development, the Apple presenter at Apple�s MacWorld described a new desktop control called the Dock that contains icons of each of the programs currently running on the desktop. Now there�s a revolutionary idea! It was this taskbar-like Dock, though, that got me to thinking.
      The Apple Dock squeezes the icons representing the applications into tiny blocks. However, when you hover the mouse over the bar the icons explode to a large, quite visible icon. The effect as you move up and down the bar is sort of like flipping through a Rolodex, and is quite impressive.
      The magic behind this effect is a series of 3D libraries that are part of the Mac OS. The Mac has had some of these routines ever since they moved to the Power PC architecture years ago, but the Macintosh shell never made much use of them. The Dock is an interesting application of 3D acceleration technology. Apple can do this because the Mac hardware running the OS has the ability to back up the 3D libraries with lightning-fast power. This begs the question, what�s in it for the developer targeting Windows®?
      Well, if you look at the specifications for the video cards included with most IBM-compatible PCs today, you�ll notice that they too have 3D acceleration in hardware. Remember also that Intel has been producing the Pentium III with an enhanced set of MMX extensions for the past year. So it�s not just the video folks who have been upping the graphics power available on a PC.
      Windows doesn�t provide a true set of GDI-like extensions for 3D effects. Instead, Direct3D® (basically a games API) and Open GL are supported. Open GL is the cross-platform 3D API developed from Iris GL by Silicon Graphics. The interesting thing is that all this 3D power has quietly infiltrated the installed base of PCs over the last few years with nary a notice from anyone but Quake addicts. The fact is that very powerful 3D cards can be had for under $100 at your local computer store, so there is no reason every user can�t have a 3D-enabled box on their desk in no time. All that�s holding things back is a killer 3D application.
      Maybe the video card companies ought to be out there seeding a few startups. They have done a great job getting a critical mass of 3D hardware in the boxes being shipped today. What remains is to have that killer 3D app appear, which will prompt the installed base of hundreds of millions of PCs to upgrade their systems. This 3D revolution could be good for everyone. So, who out there has that killer idea?
      On another subject, this is my last Flux column for a while. Among the changes with the merge of MSJ and MIND into the new MSDN Magazine is the opening up of this column to other authors with great ideas on trendy new stuff. I have enjoyed writing Flux over the last four years, but I leave it in the capable hands of the other great contributors to this magazine. I may be back, writing a column or two on items of interest. Just what the future holds remains, as always, in flux.