Q8N@PSUVM.BITNET (Scott D. Camp) (11/20/89)
In article <1025.2567c58a@csc.anu.oz>, pfr654@csc.anu.oz says: > >Hi there. >Can someone explain why Excel 1.00 is better at memory management than Wingz? > > (lot of stuff deleted here) > >Anyway, unless version 1.1 corrects at least some of these problems there will >be another copy of Wingz for sale. It is unrealistic to expect one program to do everything better. However, many of the complaints can be solved with very little work with HyperScript (as the author himself implies). For a very different review of WingZ (version 1.0, not even the upgrade), I refer the author to the November issue of MacWorld ("Can Excel Be Beaten?" by Charles Seiter). In it, Seiter concludes: "Wingz is the clear leader for graphics features, programmability, and high-end computational performance. ... In release 2.2, Excel has brought its features list and capacity up to current standards; it has done this so thoroughly that it would be hard for many longtime Excel users to justify a switch. Excel occupies, still, a broad middle region of the market, despite the undeniable appeal of Wingz for advanced graphics applications..." As an obviously satisfied Excel user, there probably is no reason to switch to Wingz. With the reviews Wingz receives, the author would probably have little trouble in selling his copy. I only wish my upgrade would come. --------------- Scott Camp Q8N@PSUVM.BITNET Penn State University disclaimer: my opinions are (obviously) my own, and I don't work for any computer related company
pfr654@csc.anu.oz (11/20/89)
Hi there. Can someone explain why Excel 1.00 is better at memory management than Wingz? I was trying to mimic the lotteries and produce large sets of random numbers, using "int(rand()*100)" to get a number from 0 to 99. Wingz could only do about 3000 numbers, whereas Excel (version 1.00!!) was easily able to do 10000!! It seems that the smart memory management of Wingz is up shit creek. Other problems with the program: * when printing a graph (with the "sheet" hidden) the program tries to print out the equivalent of blank pages for 32,767 cells! * when pasting special-values, more than once, strange mix-ups of what you are pasting from and what you are pasting to * shit defaults for graphs (who on earth wants the default line graph to be a 1mm thick grey line?), lack of intelligence in axes defaults * overkill of the hierarchical menus (I know that they can be changed, but to do so takes lots of time, furthermore, you may still want access to the other features, just not all of the time. The problem is when you are continually going two levels down in the menus, and in long menus too!). My wife is quite pissed off with me for getting this program, rather than upgrading to Excel 1.5 or 2.2, since it just is not nice or easy to use. Lastly, like hypercard, it does not come with complete documentation on its scripting language, and I read on the net that such documentation will cost! Anyway, unless version 1.1 corrects at least some of these problems there will be another copy of Wingz for sale. Phil Ryan ANU Department of Physics and Theoretical Physics Canberra, Australia