bamford@ihuxw.UUCP (09/18/83)
I will shortly have a need for a spread-sheet calculator for an Altos
(Z80, CP/M) computer. Since I know zip about such programs and don't
care to get burned through ignorance, I am asking you, the net users,
to send me any comments you might have on such programs that you have
used.
If this question has been asked recently, please point me to the
results. I have only just recently developed an interest in these
programs so I may have ignored any previous surveys.
The kinds of things I am interested in are:
1) Ease of learning to use the program
2) Ease of use once the commands are mastered
3) Support from the publisher/distributor
4) Saving the "state" of the program - can everything be saved on
disk for later reference or modification or must all formulas
and values be reentered by hand?
5) Reliability - does a single typo cause the system to crash, erase
the disk, and smoke the power supply? How easy is it to recover
from a typo?
6) Can a calculation (possibly an infinite loop miscalculation) be
"broken" without crashing the machine?
7) Any other subjective comments are also welcome.
If there is sufficient interest, I will summarize and post to the net.
Thanks,
Harold Bamford (BTL @ Naperville, IL)
ihnp4!ihuxw!bamford
--
Harold Bamford
Bell Labs
Naperville, Illinois
(312) 979-0804
ihuxw!bamford