Re: Macs in Astronomy Updated; Canon 20D under Mac & Windows

From: Pierre Vandevenne (pierre_at_datarescue.com)
Date: 03/01/05 

Date: Tue, 1 Mar 2005 18:25:06 +0000 (UTC)

Chris L Peterson <clp@alumni.caltech.edu> wrote in
news:sfb921dk8kr2hcfj4dj8sail6jqsh28ea3@4ax.com:

> On Mon, 28 Feb 2005 22:59:11 -0700, Tim Killian <TJK@notmyrealemail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> From the frequency of kernel panics you describe, it's possible you
>>have some marginal RAM that's flaky under OS X. Many of the 512MB sticks
>>that worked fine under OS 9 are problematic when used in a machine
>>running OS X. Run a good RAM diagnostic (Apple's RAM check is lame) or
>>swap the memory from another machine before you blame the kernel.
>
> I do software development professionally. The equipment is in top notch
> shape, and I know there are no hardware problems. I see this on more
> than one machine, and I know other developers and users who see it as
> well. I do, in fact, blame the kernel.

I have to agree. Please guys, don't see this as another Mac/PC flame war. I
believe Chris and I are accurately describing what we experience. After a
year or so of testing, our software has been selected by Sony for their
support centers (just go and check your local memory stick support site if
you need confirmation) and we reach tens and tens of thousands of users.
It's not mass market in the sense that iTunes is mass market, but it is
more widespread than, say, your typical astronomy software.

It can be argued that we have less experience on this platform than we have
on PC and that this is a reason for the instability we observe, but we are
seeing this in the applications written by others for which we are mere
users as well. If others fail where we fail or where Chris fails, fine, I
am willing to accept that. But that simply displaces the root cause, not
the consequences.

And I am doing everything I can to switch to Mac, if only because it is a
breath of fresh air and I am bored to death on Windows. 

-- 
Pierre Vandevenne - DataRescue sa/nv - www.datarescue.com
The IDA Pro Disassembler & Debugger - world leader in hostile code analysis
PhotoRescue - American Photo Editor's Choice 2004
latest review: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1590497,00.asp

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