It's a combination of everything Brad. You only need one line of code in one program to not like another program trying to access a part of the memory stack, or any other infinite combinations of things to make a PC or Mac s**t itself. You're a geek, you know that. Hardware certainly plays its part, as I have had bits and pieces over the years that didn't like each other much. Some motherboards don't like particular graphics cards for instance, no matter how often you update drivers or patch the BIOS. The problem I see with many of the GIS apps is that they were designed and built on the UNIX platform, and have not translated 100% to Windoze, and neither are they available for LINUX, which would be the obvious choice for many. ArcView for instance is generally stable, but will fall over. MapInfo is more stable, but not as powerful. IDRISSI is a killer GIS app, but it's a bitch to learn. ArcInfo likewise (although now its menu driven rather than command line). These programs (i.e. ArcInfo cost upwards of $7500.00 in Australia, so we don't tend to chop and change to often). I run MapInfo 5.0, ArcView 3.2a, and IDRISSI 32 all at once. Of them all IDRISSI is the most stable. GRASS is available for LINUX, but not a particularly easy package to grapple with. As far as hardware is concerned I run 2 different systems. My main machine is an AMD Athlon @ 1610 mhz. I run an ABIT KT-266 motherboard, 512mb 266 mhz sd-ram (Hyundai), 80gb Seagate barracuda, 30 gb Quantum fireball, LG CDRW, Pioneer DVD, Creative Sblive, MSI Starforce 64mb graphics card (nvidia TNT MX400), a modem, and an Intel Ethernet card. This thing runs W2K SP3, and all my main application requirements. My other machine is a P3 500mhz running 512mb of 133mhz sd-ram, and a little itty bitty 8gb hd. I can't remember what else is in it, as its 3 years since I built it. I use the second machine purely for translating data sets from one GIS format to another. This is a time consuming process, so I use the secondary machine, which is networked, to my main machine. I also use a laptop when I am on the road as well. The only machine running Win98 is the laptop, as some of it's hardware is not supported by W2K (a hot-swapable CDRW for instance). My machines are virtually never switched off, and only the monitor is allowed to power down. Although I did just do a restart to get my motherboard details. I run both machines through a 17" monitor using a really funky Belkin KVB switch. I keep everything tucked up safe and warm behind a firewall, and scan incessantly for viruses. Now, what's all this got to do with Pentax. Well I did take some nice photos just the other day.....
Shaun Canning PhD Student Department of Archaeology School of European and Historical Studies La Trobe University, Bundoora, Vic, 3086. Phone: 0414-967644 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
