Introduction
Whilst at the University of Essex, I took a module called “Interactive Computer Graphics” (or EE222 as we referred to it). Half of the course consisted of using POV‑Ray to create images, and then putting them together to make a high quality animation. The other half of the course consisted of programming real‑time interactive graphics using C and OpenGL, with the help the GLUT library freeglut. I went on to do my final year project, creating a simulation in C++ and OpenGL. It was the first time I had ever written a real application, and I still have a soft spot for GLUT.
For my university project, I used Nate Robins’ GLUT for Win32 project for the Windows build, and freeglut for the Linux build. Windows freeglut binary packages are somewhat hard to find, particularly for the MinGW compiler, so I’ve created suitable packages and put them online. You can use them to build freeglut applications using Microsoft’s Visual C++ and MinGW.
freeglut 2.6.0 MSVC Package
This package contains a Windows DLL, import library, and header files, allowing freeglut applications to be written using Microsoft’s Visual C++. The package was built from source code using Visual Studio 2008. The DLL is binary compatible with both my MinGW DLL, and the GLUT for Win32 DLL provided by Nate Robins. The DLL has been tested on React OS, Windows NT 4, Windows 98, Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7.
Download freeglut 2.6.0‑3 for MSVC
freeglut 2.6.0 MinGW Package
This package contains a Windows DLL, import library, static library, and header files, allowing freeglut applications to be compiled using the MinGW compiler. The package was built from source code using MinGW. The DLL is binary compatible with both my MSVC DLL, and the GLUT for Win32 DLL provided by Nate Robins. The DLL has been tested on React OS, Windows NT 4, Windows 98, Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7.
Download freeglut 2.6.0‑3 for MinGW
For further details on using freeglut with MinGW, see my GLUT MinGW article.
freeglut 2.6.0 64 bit MSVC Build
I have also built a 64 bit MSVC package, which I’ve been testing on Windows 7. It’s still experimental at the moment, but I’ve found no portability issues yet. If you’d like to help with testing, please get in touch and I’ll send you a copy.
freeglut 2.4.0 Packages
If you would prefer to download the older 2.4.0 packages, they can be found in the older GLUT packages directory.
Problems?
If you have problems using these packages (runtime errors etc.), please contact me, providing as much detail as you can. Please don’t complain to the freeglut guys unless you’re sure it’s a freeglut bug, and have reproduced the issue after compiling freeglut from the latest SVN version—if that’s still the case, I’m sure they would appreciate a bug report or a patch.