I find that OpenGL ES 3.0 hits the GL 2.x sweet spot for me. Main reason I prefer it over desktop 3.0 is that it doesn't require the use of vbos, which always seem to complicate simple programs (even though I keep being told that I can just set one up and bind it, then forget about it).
I especially like that it's hands-off wrt a lot of things like matrix manipulation and geometry optimization. It gives you an opportunity to think about these things clearly and get an optimal solution without having to port all of your matrix code out of somebody else's library.
I especially like that it's hands-off wrt a lot of things like matrix manipulation and geometry optimization. It gives you an opportunity to think about these things clearly and get an optimal solution without having to port all of your matrix code out of somebody else's library.