R: Is it possible to use RGL in x64 Windows?

Question

Is it possible to use the R package 'RGL' in x64 Windows?

RGL Website

Answer 1

In principle, why not? It is the same as for other platforms:

• GL hardware support from your card and drivers is required
• proper libraries have to be available

You just pointed to the code archive at R-Forge which does not yet do win64 builds. It may be better to

• check Brian Ripley's site and / or
• check with the package maintainers

and that last step is generally the recommended method anyway.

Answer 2

It definitely is. R 2.11.0 just came out and includes support for 64-bit builds on Windows. There is at least one hard-to-install packages that are otherwise supported on 32-bit AFAIK, but rgl installs simply with install.packages.

The R for Windows download page on CRAN includes a link to the 64-bit build, in 2.12.0 this is planned to be integrated with a single installer.