Oops. Postscript to that last post:

 The reason I said OpenGL is preferred is because it is an open standard
 created by Silicon Graphics (originally) that can be used or implimented
 anywhere: Mac, Windows, or UNIX - unlike DirectX.

 Hardware vendors support OpenGL for this reason, and video drivers that use
 OpenGL are availlable for almost every video card/chipset out there.

 I just wanted to make sure that I was completely clear.  As it was, to me
it
 sounded as though OpenGL was primarily only  a UNIX standard, when in fact,
 it's everywhere on almost every major OS.

 T.J.