[sliverstorm]

The GPU microops continue to change for the same reason we got x87, MMX, AVX256... We expect the very best performance from our graphics coprocessor, and sometimes the fastest way to do something is with a new hardware op.

The GPU doesn't get more complicated to support OpenGL; OpenGL gets more complicated to 1) meet the needs of developers and 2) support the GPU.

The real way to stop adding new features & ops every year is to stop caring about whether your GPU is fast.

P.S. The GPU is a computation engine that is more parallel than the CPU, but it is not analogous to a CPU with more threads. A GPU basically cannot branch (if/for/while) worth a damn, for example.