GDI Alternatives

GDI is described as '++.dll is a replacement for the Windows default font rasterizer, which gives you a better font-smoothing capability, just like Mac OS X' and is an app. There are eight alternatives to GDI for a variety of platforms, including Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and BSD apps. The best GDI alternative is OpenGL, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like GDI are WebGL, DirectX, SDL and PyOpenGL.

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Alternatives list

  1. OpenGL icon

    OpenGL

     188 likes
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    OpenGL is the premier environment for developing portable, interactive 2D and 3D graphics applications. Since its introduction in 1992, OpenGL has become the industry's most widely used and supported 2D and 3D graphics application programming interface (API), bringing...

    10 OpenGL alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • BSD
    • Haiku
    Project64 (Nintendo 64 emulator) with the Glide64 video plugin (which uses OpenGL) playing Super Mario 64.
     

    • OpenGL is the most popular Windows, Android, Mac & iPhone alternative to GDI.

    • OpenGL is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to GDI.

    • OpenGL is Free and Open SourceGDI is also Free and Open Source
  2. WebGL icon

    WebGL

     26 likes
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    WebGL is a cross-platform, royalty-free web standard for a low-level 3D graphics API based on OpenGL ES 2.0, exposed through the HTML5 Canvas element as Document Object Model interfaces. Developers familiar with OpenGL ES 2.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
     

    • WebGL is the most popular Web-based alternative to GDI.

    • WebGL is Free and Open SourceGDI is also Free and Open Source
  4. DirectX icon

    DirectX

     42 likes
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    DirectX is a set of components in Windows that allows software, primarily and especially games, to work directly with your video and audio hardware.

    12 DirectX alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows
    DirectX screenshot 1
     
  5. SDL icon

    SDL

     35 likes
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    Simple DirectMedia Layer is a cross-platform multimedia library designed to provide low level access to audio, keyboard, mouse, joystick, 3D hardware via OpenGL, and 2D video framebuffer. It is used by MPEG playback software, emulators, and many popular games, including the...

    33 SDL alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Windows Mobile
    • iPhone
    • Symbian S60
    • BSD
    • iPad
    • Haiku
     

    • SDL is the most popular iPad alternative to GDI.

    • SDL is Free and Open SourceGDI is also Free and Open Source
  6. PyOpenGL icon

    PyOpenGL

     3 likes
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    Python bindings for OpenGL API.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  7. ANGLE icon

    ANGLE

     1 like
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    The goal of ANGLE is to allow users of multiple operating systems to seamlessly run WebGL and other OpenGL ES content by translating OpenGL ES API calls to one of the hardware-supported APIs available for that platform. ANGLE currently provides translation from OpenGL ES 2.0, 3.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    • Android Tablet
    ANGLE screenshot 1
     

    • ANGLE is the most popular Android Tablet alternative to GDI.

    • ANGLE is Free and Open SourceGDI is also Free and Open Source
  9. Crystal Space icon

    Crystal Space

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    Crystal Space is a mature, full-featured Software Development Kit (SDK) providing real-time 3D graphics for applications such as games and virtual reality. It is free (LGPL) and cross-platform (Windows, GNU/Linux, Mac OS X).

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Yo Frankie!
     
  10. Font Smoothing Adjuster icon

    Font Smoothing Adjuster

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    Font Smoothing Adjuster is a tiny, native macOS app that lets you adjust your font smoothing preferences in a graphical user interface. Issues and pull requests welcome!

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Font Smoothing Adjuster screenshot 1
     
8 of 8 GDI alternatives