Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 10:29:19 -0400
Reply-To: Lary Jones <ljones@BINGHAMTON.EDU>
Sender: "SPSSX(r) Discussion" <SPSSX-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU>
From: Lary Jones <ljones@BINGHAMTON.EDU>
Subject: Re: Macintosh Statistical Programs
In-Reply-To: <35F4EF55.A0D41A50@net.hcc.nl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
At 10:48 AM 9/8/98 +0200, Aiso Vos wrote:
>I have been following this continuing "Mac-discussions" for a long time
>now, and I would like to express my thoughts on this subject.
>
>How is it possible that whenever some kind of software doesn't run
>smoothly on a Windows-machine, everyone points their arrows at
>Microsoft, while on the other hand when SPSS does not run on a Mac no
>one seems to blame Apple?
Ah... That is a good question. In part, the answer relates to the ease on
the Macintosh of adding third party "system" components such as control
panels and extensions. My experience is that most problems occurred in
cases where individuals did not upgrade third party components when they
upgraded the version of their operating system. Sometimes, the problem was
that individuals grabbed the latest operating system upgrade (from Apple)
without considering whether it was stable or beneficial.
I will contend that the mix of third party control panels and system
upgrades in the 7.5 era were very trying and that Apple and third party
developers bare somewhat equal responsibility. It was essentially
symptomatic of the unsettled Mac universe which made it difficult major
stat. vendors to commit to continuing development and upgrades. I hope
that SPSS, SAS, and others will reconsider based on the presently solid
state of the Macintosh platform.
-Lary Jones
P.S. I have had a Mac since April 1984 & would estimate that SPSS has
crashed/hung only about 1 out of every 6-700 uses on the Mac. I use, and
support, SPSS 7 and 8 on Windows 95 and NT. Rel. 8 is very stable for us.
_______________________________________________________
Lary Jones % Statistical Computing Analyst
Computing Services % ..........................
Binghamton University % LJones@Binghamton.EDU
Binghamton, NY 13902-6000 % (607) 777-2879
| 
