OpenGL is often compared to Direct3D , an API for 3D graphics on Windows . Programming for Direct3D is different in some ways because the APIs use different naming schemes for talking to a computer 's graphics driver , which means that programmers need to write different code for OpenGL and Direct3D to do the same things . It is also used in video games , where it competes with Direct3D on Microsoft Windows platforms ( see OpenGL vs. Direct3D ) .