| Re: Message From RSI VP of Engineering [message #27307 is a reply to message #27225] |
Tue, 16 October 2001 19:26   |
Liam E. Gumley
Messages: 378
Registered: January 2000
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Senior Member |
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"Matthew Powell" <mpowell@rsinc.com> wrote in message
news:9qhr6c$3to$1@news.rsinc.com...
> As VP of Engineering and IT at Research Systems, I would like to elaborate
> on the posting from our CEO. I have been monitoring the newsgroups and
> understand that this is an issue that many of you are very passionate
about.
> So, I felt it important to post this message to all of you.
>
> As with most issues there is more than meets the eye with our recent
> announcement regarding our decision not to support Mac OS X. The most
> important one being that in our desire to be the best scientific
> visualization package we can be, we had to shed some unprofitable
platforms
> in order to focus on the core platforms which make up the bulk of IDL
sales.
> Our initial desire was to deliver a fully native OS X solution that
included
> native widgets and a redesigned Aqua user interface. Once we realized the
> costs associated with doing that, we knew we could not support the
Macintosh
> platform profitably. Whether we like it or not, in this day and age,
> profitability is a requirement for which we are held accountable.
>
> Now for the good news. In subsequent discussions with Apple they have made
> us aware of a commercial X-Windows library for OS X. We are in the
process
> of evaluating it for use in a native Unix/X-Windows implementation of IDL
> and ENVI for the Mac OS X platform. This would solve many technical
issues
> for us and allow us to continue to support the Macintosh platform both
> natively and profitably, as it would leverage off our other Unix/X
> platforms. The only thing this does not accomplish is providing IDL with a
> new Aqua UI and widget set.
>
> While I cannot promise this will be successful and that we can take it to
> market, we are very encouraged by our early results working with the
> library. We hope to have some solid results upon which we can base a solid
> commitment to our customers in the very near future. We certainly
apologize
> for any inconvenience this may have caused you and your colleagues and ask
> that you give us an opportunity to complete our investigation and try to
> come up with a solution that will meet your needs and retain you as a
> satisfied customer of RSI.
Any comment from the community on whether this suggestion would meet the
needs of Mac OS X users? (That is, an OS X version of IDL that uses
X-Windows for direct/object graphics and user interface). Granted, you don't
get the fancy Aqua user interface, but do IDL programmers really care, as
long IDL is running on their Mac? For cross-platform development purposes, I
would think a more UNIX-like version for the Mac would be a good thing.
Cheers,
Liam.
Practical IDL Programming
http://www.gumley.com/
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