Date:         Thu, 1 Apr 1999 16:42:59 -0600
Reply-To:     "Weeks, Kyle" <kweeks@SPSS.COM>
Sender:       "SPSSX(r) Discussion" <SPSSX-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU>
From:         "Weeks, Kyle" <kweeks@SPSS.COM>
Subject:      Re: From SPSS:  Suggested solution for SPSS for Mac users

While the solution that Mr. Wahlgren suggests may be possible for some types
of software, it is an entirely different set of circumstances for very
complex software such as SPSS (for example, SPSS contains over 29,000 source
files).   In order to deliver the most feature-rich and best-performing
software possible, we adopted the use of various Windows-based development
tools such as MFC and OLE/ActiveX, as well as support for such
Windows-specific features as ODBC. These technologies are not portable, and
the means for moving such Windows-based software to Mac have, in truth, been
slow to develop.
Regards.
 
Kyle Weeks, Ph.D.
> Associate Market Manager
> SPSS Inc.
> 233 S. Wacker, 11th Floor
> Chicago, IL 60606
> * kweeks@spss.com
> * (312) 651-3645
Visit our Web site:
http://www.spss.com
 
 
 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: D.R. Wahlgren [SMTP:wahlgren@MAIL.SDSU.EDU]
> Sent: Thursday, April 01, 1999 4:28 PM
> To:   SPSSX-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU
> Subject:      Re: From SPSS:  Suggested solution for SPSS for Mac users
>
> >I know this suggestion does not help in the short term but I wonder if we
> all
> >stopped supporting SPSS's VirtualPC solution if we would finally get the
> >proper
> >solution: SPSS v.9.0 for MacOS.  I am tired of being forced to work in an
> >operating system I detest.  I appreciate SPSS's position but sometimes
> vision
> >warrants some loses in the short term.  I just felt this needed to be
> said.
> >
> >Sincerely,
> >S. Kelly Harris
>
>
> I was just chatting off-list about why SPSS doesn't just de-compile the
> windows program and recompile it for the MacOS.  I'm no programmer, but
> from what I understand, it is a routine and automated practice among
> software developers.  Just beta test the translated version and slap a new
> label on the box.  What am I missing???
>
> -Dennis
>
> ```````````''''''''''''
> Dennis R. Wahlgren, M.A.
>
> Center for Behavioral Epidemiology and Community Health
> Graduate School of Public Health
> San Diego State University
> http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/c-beach
>
>
> "Poets say science takes away from the beauty of the stars--mere globs of
> gas atoms.  Nothing is 'mere.'  I too can see the stars on a desert night,
> and feel them.  But do I see less or more?"      --Richard Feynman