| DirectX is the official API, OpenGL and Vulkan only work because of backwards compatibility Microsoft never got rid of ICD ABI they introduced back when OpenGL in Windows NT was a thing. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/d... That is how GPU vendor drivers expose OpenGL and Vulkan, via ICD, they aren't even supported on the Windows SDK, it is up to you to get the header files and libraries to link against the DLLs provided by the GPU vendors. From Windows SDK point of view, OpenGL 1.1 is what is shipped in the box. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/OpenGL/openg... Even the "OpenGL improvements" introduced in Windows 8 rely on DirectX 3D APIs, https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/d... There is no support for OpenGL/Vulkan on UWP, XBox, HoloLens, Win32 sandboxes, while OpenGL/Vulkan on WSL are exposed via a DirectX driver wrapper, similar to MoltenVK. |