| Re: MacOS X [message #20292] |
Sat, 03 June 2000 00:00 |
Struan Gray
Messages: 178
Registered: December 1995
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Senior Member |
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J.D. Smith, jdsmith@astro.cornell.edu writes:
> 1. Do nothing and force users to run IDL in the "Classic"
> compatibility
The nasty old cynic part of me has peered deep into his cups and
announced that this will be the solution, accompanied by a doubling of
the licence fee because OS X is essentially Unix.
The don't-worry-be-happy version is naive enough to take great
heart from this:
http://www.rsinc.com/AppProfile/idl_Motorola.cfm
And the fact that that in the past Macs have been treated on an
equal basis with other platforms (apart from the Windows-only
geegaws).
I do my programming on one of the new Powerbooks, and don't hanker
after a desktop G4.
One of the things I don't like about IDL on the Mac is that it is
a single-threaded resource hog, which makes for frustration in a
cooperative multitasking environment. It also makes it hard to, say,
hook IDL up as a compute engine to a web server, or to analyse data on
the same machine which runs the experiment. OS X and the rumoured
multi-processing Macs will sidestep this nicely.
Struan
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| Re: MacOS X [message #20295 is a reply to message #20292] |
Fri, 02 June 2000 00:00  |
davidf
Messages: 2866
Registered: September 1996
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Senior Member |
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J.D. Smith (jdsmith@astro.cornell.edu) writes:
> Has anyone heard if RSI will offer a version of IDL for the new Macintosh
> operating system OSX (that's "Ten" for those not in the know)?
My understanding is that IDL 5.4 will include support for
the G4 Velocity Engine (Altivec) on certain key operators.
RSI is currently soliciting beta testers to test this support
on Macs. I'd contact them if you are interested is learning
more about this. The beta is coming "soon."
With respect to other features of OSX that RSI might
take advantage of, it is far too early to tell. Isn't
OSX still nearly a 6-8 months out? That is an eternity
in the software business, especially given Apple's history
of missing deadlines by months and years. Software companies
don't get rich by incorporating features for virtual
operating systems. :-)
Better to wait for OSX.I.III.IV and see how things shake out.
But given IDL's historical UNIX-centric approach to things,
the folks at RSI must be chomping at the bit to take advantage
of some of the features that will be available. Lord knows
the Mac can use some UNIX flavor. :-)
Cheers,
David
P.S. Let's just say I've heard RSI has it's ears open
for suggestions if anyone cares to make them.
--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting
Phone: 970-221-0438 E-Mail: davidf@dfanning.com
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.dfanning.com/
Toll-Free IDL Book Orders: 1-888-461-0155
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