Can I programming OpenGL4+ in a card that support 2.1 only?

Question

This is the OpenGL version I have:

Video Card Vendor:    Intel
Renderer:             Intel(R) HD Graphics
OpenGL Version:       2.1.0 - Build 8.15.10.2622
GLU Version:          1.2.2.0 Microsoft Corporation

I'd like to learn the latest OpenGL API. But my card supports only 2.1 (and I cant update). Is it possible to program in latest API even with no card support?

Answer 1

AshleysBrain's answer is not quite correct. You can use a software implementation of OpenGL such as Mesa3D which can execute newer code using your CPU instead of your GPU. It will be slower but will allow you to compile and run your 4+ code against it OpenGL 3.1 code against it.

Edit: just checked, it seems Mesa only supports up to OpenGL 3.1. Still; that's pretty good for free.

Answer 2

Send money/time Mesa's way in the hope they'll support GL4 in their software rasterizer sometime soon.

Or pester Khronos for a reference implementation.

As of Mesa 20.2 llvmpipe supports OpenGL 4.5.