Where should I start with openGL

Hello. I have a fair knowledge of C++, and would like to get started with openGL. I realize that nehe.gavedev.net are really good tutorials, but how do I get started? I have a few of the libraries, opengl32.lib, glut32.lib, and glaux.lib, and I have the glut.h, gl.h, and glu.h… I am using MSVC++6.0, and I am pretty good with it. So someone please tell me, do I just dive right in? Do I need to download something else? Should I use win32 or use GLUT? And what benefits do GLUT have?

Thanks!

Using MSVC++ 6 you can start programming stuff with OpenGL and not have to download anything special - just remember to link the appropriate libraries into your project or you will get a bunch of ‘unresolved external’ errors when you build it.
-Mezz

What is GLUT and its benefits? Because Ive noticed that some people use it, some people dont. For newbies like me, would it be easier ?

If you already know WIN32 there is no reason for using glut except portability wich can be ignored… So use WIN32! I do…

GLUT is a sort of wrapper for very basic functionality (such as creating windows, handling trivial keyboard/mouse input etc.) that would make OpenGL platform dependent.

Using Win32 means you do the work yourself, but you’ll have to do some additional work to port it to another platform.

If you feel comfortable with Win32 programming and platform independance is either not an issue or you are prepared to do the porting work then it probably is a reasonable suggestion to go with Win32.
That said, GLUT is very easy to set up and use (probably easier than Win32 if you don’t know it).

-Mezz