Igor wrote
> It seems that protel is going M$ way. I don't think Protel has any choice with M$, They have to offer software in which the mainstream is using, unfortunately is M$. >They want us to pay for their bugs. Personally I think Protel went the extra mile with SP6 offering it free to 99 users. 99se with SP6 is an incredible package in comparison. I am at a crossroads. I attended a Mentor Expedition workshop and was very impressed with their program. The list price was 36K. This month for service bureaus, like mine they have a really sweet deal at half price 16K. That is right 16 K for Mentor. I have a copy of it here for evaluation. I loaded it on my system and here are my immediate conclusions. I drew up a list of about 100 requirements. I know the program will perform the high end stuff, so I wanted to put it thru the paces to see if it would meet my requirements. Some of my tests were simple things like copy and paste. Some programs have difficulty with the simple tasks. First requirement PORTABILITY......need a key to load it on my laptop not a real show stopper so I can live with it. Files can be transferred too Requirement 2 Compatibility.......FAILED my second test. I receive netlist in any of 100 different formats, I receive schematics from fed-x, faxes, Orcad, Protel, viewlogic, pdf, and on Kleenex. Why did it fail? because to start the darn PCB package, you must have a complete schematic entered into MENTOR schematic. I don't enter , re enter or trust myself to copy someone's schematic. There is no way I can guarantee the accuracy again and again without making a silly mistake somewhere along the line. I make my customers understand that they and they alone are responsible for the accuracy of the information I receive, even if this is only a netlist. I decided on step 2 that I can not use this program as much as I my mouth salivates for it. I never got a chance to test the other 98 on my list because you cant start the pcb editor without a schematic. A closed system I can not work with. Lesson and big wish to Protel....Don't follow the lead of "other" systems like MENTOR and CADENCE with closed systems. 99SE allows for an "open" ended design system which now allows me to use third party netlist (using a translator of course). I can jump right into pcb and draw an outline, place parts, and have a preliminary design in a few hours. I haven't been following the BETA testing to determine if the DXP closes the door on this option, but PLEASE MR. Protel tell me it wont be closed, otherwise I have no reason to go on with this program. I am confident that Protel programmers will do an excellent job after several more service packs. Otherwise we might have a release of 3.X ( barf software) I don't understand why they had to rewrite everything when 99SE was so good, was it limited in terms of what they could do with the code? I don't write code so I don't know. Protel is writing new router code. Having a separate program for routing may not have been such a bad idea. Right now, with second party tools like Spectra on another machine, I can run spectra and work on a second design. No time lost , better yet I doubled my throughput while another machine is crunching a large design. I don't know where we are going here either with M$ or Protel XP sucks even if supposively doesn't crash as often. M$ is going the way AOL did trying to sell me media stuff like BRITNEY SPEARS and BSTREET BOYS every day. UGGGGG. My zip drive spins into a multimedia player everytime I insert a disk with XP I kill it everytime but it is a pain. I found a way to kill the MS puppy on my screen. I'm glad I don't have speakers connected otherwise I would have to listen to him bark also. Cut me a break you coders out there, are you people so lonely and tired of writing code that this the best you can do for creativity? Commentary only. Mike Reagan EDSI Frederick MD > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * To post a message: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * To leave this list visit: * http://www.techservinc.com/protelusers/leave.html * * Contact the list manager: * mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * Forum Guidelines Rules: * http://www.techservinc.com/protelusers/forumrules.html * * Browse or Search previous postings: * http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
