You could look at the many front ends to Maxima, including ones that are inspired by a mathcad-like look and feel, some of which actually work.
Especially if you are already wondering if you are going to be happy doing your chosen project, it is possible that your talents might be better directed toward a more urgent topic. -- To post to this group, send an email to sage-devel@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to sage-devel+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sage-devel URL: http://www.sagemath.org