tbissett@nstar.rn.com (Travis Bissett) (06/06/91)
The following is not a paid product endorsement -- it's just to let Amiganoids know about something new and interesting in the Amiga world by way of applications. MathSoft annouces MAPLE -- symbolic processor and mathematical solver software from the University of Waterloo. This professional, high level package is a standard-setter on unix platforms, (IMHO) and one of the first big things to port to the A3000ux Unix SVr4. It is now available for AmigaDOS as well. Maple version 4.2 runs under AmigaDOS WorkBench 1.3. According to MathSoft TechSup "it probably runs ok under WorkBench 2.0 as well, but this was not checked." Version 5.0 is in beta now and expected to release in September of '91. It will be written expressly to take advantage of the additional capabilities of WB 2.0. Those who buy MAPLE now will be entitled to a free upgrade to version 5.0 when it is released. The current price is $450. Minimum system requirements are 2 MB of RAM and 7 MB of room on a hard drive. More is better. The software solves algebraic and calculus problems, and lets results get plotted -- as in shaded 3-D surface plots. MathSoft regards MAPLE as very complimentary to their MathStation software for Sun platforms -- so much so that it is now available bundled with MathStation at a special deal of $995. MathSoft has not yet indicated an intention to port either MathCad or MathStation -- number crunch software for PC's and workstations, respectively -- to Amiga (either SVr4 or AmigaDOS). But, I get the feeling that they might be watching the Amiga market very closely. It wouldn't surprise me to learn they have inhouse Amiga development folks ready to turn on as soon as the marketroids give it the thumbs-up. The above is mostly based on my personal opinions and a few statements by a very nice regional sales manager at MathSoft. I'm not endorsing, advertising, or promoting their products here. I AM promoting, endorsing, and advertising the Amiga computer -- by way of letting you folks know about "another serious app" for our favorite machine. Those of you in a position to need math software and empowered to buy it are urged to check it out and let us know what you think of it. OK . . . so when is Word Perfect going to turn version 6.x back on and start treating the Amiga nice again? Huh? :-) Have an OK day at least. Travis -- tbissett@nstar.rn.com -- Travis Bissett NSTAR conferencing site 219-289-0287/317-251-7391 internet: tbissett@nstar.rn.com 1300 newsgroups - 8 inbound lines uucp: ..!uunet!nstar.rn.com!tbissett 99 file areas - 4300 megabytes --- backbone news & mail feeds available - contact larry@nstar.rn.com ---