Which OpenGL version by default installed along with MinGW?

I recently tried to lay my hands on OpenGL. Trying to grasp the API, I am using MinGW along with OpenGW. Now, I learned (or was given the advice) that I shouldn't use glBegin and glEnd anymore, since those are deprecated, but should start with OpenGL 3.1, instead. As I didn't know that the version used makes such a difference, I didn't pay much Attention as to which version I actually have installed on my computer. And, as far as I can see, there is no glVersion or similar call that I could use to determine that version.

Since I am using MinGW I went to its respective include folder and found in c:\MinGW\include\GL\gl.h:

/*
 * Mesa 3-D graphics library
 * Version:  4.0

 [more lines]

 */

 [more lines]


#define GL_VERSION_1_1   1

#if !defined(__WIN32__)
#define GL_VERSION_1_2   1
#define GL_VERSION_1_3   1
#define GL_ARB_imaging   1
#endif

 [more lines]

#define GL_VERSION                              0x1F02

which, to me, indicates, that the installed version is as low as 1.3. Is this the case or how could I verify my suspicion? Also, where would I find a later version (that is working fine along with MinGW) if I have 1.3 (or whatever version 开发者_如何学JAVAit is) only?

So, does someone know, if my suspicion is right and that MinGW comes with an outdated OpenGL version?

Edit I realise that this question might be taken as a duplicate of Which OpenGL version by default installed along with MinGW?, yet, I believe this question is specifically about MinGW and OpenGL, so I think that this fact allows for a (perhaps) more specific answer.

So, does someone know, if my suspicion is right and that MinGW comes with an outdated OpenGL version?

MinGW comes without "an OpenGL", your operating system (the graphics card driver, usually) provides OpenGL.

MinGW provides a header file (gl.h), and a corresponding library (libopengl32.a) which is a wrapper for opengl32.dll, a dynamic library which comes with Windows and contains the handles to OpenGL 1.0 an 1.1 functions... something around that, not sure about exact version numbers.

Then:

Most operating systems allow you to use the whole OpenGL in a similar way.

On Windows, however, in order to access the newer OpenGL functions than what's in the header and library wrapper (which you probably do have available - depending on your GPU and driver), you have to use system calls to load the function pointers to the OpenGL calls.

There are libraries which do that for you and let you use OpenGL 3/4 functionality easily. I recommend gl3w or GLEW. That's the usual way of using OpenGL on Windows.

There's glGetString(GL_VERSION).

Please note this question has been asked and answered before.

http://learningwebgl.com/blog/?p=11#troubleshooting has some good information - WebGL uses OpenGL. You can use http://www.realtech-vr.com/glview/ to confirm your test.