Re: st: Stata on Mac or PC

["Data Analytics Corp." <dataanalytics@earthlink.net>]

Good morning,

I've been watching the exchange on this issue.  I'm more curious right 
now about Phil's statement that "you can even run Linux or Windows 
(without a performance penalty and without dual-booting) if you need to" 
on an Intel MAC machine.  I'm thinking about buying one even though I 
already have a ThinkPad running Vista.  I'm looking for more input about 
running Windows software (Stata, S-Plus, SAS primarily) on the MAC as 
well as creating Word and PowerPoint files on the MAC that my Window's 
based client can read.  Any comments or suggestions?

Thanks,

Walt


Phil Schumm wrote:

> On Jun 26, 2008, at 8:24 AM, Stefano Costalli wrote:
> > I have a non-Stata question, but I need an answer to use stata at its 
> > best!
> > So far I have used Stata 9.2 SE on my laptop (IBM T series), but now 
> > I have to give it back to my department and I have some doubts. I'm 
> > choosing between the new version of IBM T Series and Macbook pro. My 
> > old IBM worked very well, but I like also the Macbook pro. 
> > Unfortunately I don't have colleagues or friends who use Stata on a 
> > Mac machine. Could anyone give me some feedback? Has anyone done any 
> > comparison? Good functioning of Stata will be an essential variable 
> > in my decision..
>
> Thanks to StataCorp, you pretty much get the same Stata experience on 
> any OS they support.  There are some minor GUI differences, of course; 
> being primarily an OS X user, I vastly prefer the OS X version (e.g., 
> fonts look better, interface is cleaner, etc.).  But, I'll admit, 
> there's an element of subjectivity to this.
>
> One current issue for OS X is that the 64-bit version of Stata for OS 
> X is not yet available.  It is, however, under active development, and 
> may be available by the end of the year (see 
> http://www.stata.com/statalist/archive/2008-05/msg00916.html).  Thus, 
> unless you need the 64-bit version immediately, this shouldn't be an 
> issue.
>
> Given that Stata is pretty much the same on every platform, the choice 
> then really boils down to other factors.  And for scientific 
> computing, an Intel Mac is a shining star.  You have the full power of 
> Unix with a nice GUI, and, with the Intel Macs, you can even run Linux 
> or Windows (without a performance penalty and without dual-booting) if 
> you need to.
>
> One more thing: unless you're a die-hard Emacs (or perhaps even vi) 
> user, one of the single best text editors available (TextMate) is only 
> available for the Mac.  TextMate makes coding, writing, etc. a dream, 
> and is fantastic for editing Stata do-files.  Even if I didn't already 
> prefer OS X for other reasons, I'd still consider TextMate a reason to 
> switch.
>
>
> -- Phil
>
> *
> *   For searches and help try:
> *   http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/res/findit.html
> *   http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
> *   http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/

--
________________________

Walter R. Paczkowski, Ph.D.
Data Analytics Corp.
44 Hamilton Lane
Plainsboro, NJ 08536
________________________
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(F) 609-936-3733
dataanalytics@earthlink.net
www.dataanalyticscorp.com

*
*   For searches and help try:
*   http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/res/findit.html
*   http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
*   http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/