Xref: utzoo comp.sys.amiga:35374 comp.sys.amiga.tech:5646
Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!purdue!ames!killer!elg
From: elg@killer.DALLAS.TX.US (Eric Green)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga,comp.sys.amiga.tech
Subject: Re: Request for testers for Color X11 for Amiga
Message-ID: <8358@killer.DALLAS.TX.US>
Date: 14 Jun 89 04:49:42 GMT
References: <19433@cup.portal.com>
Organization: The Unix(R) Connection, Dallas, Texas
Lines: 48

in article <19433@cup.portal.com>, thad@cup.portal.com (Thad P Floryan) says:
> And in support of Michael Garvin's comments about software, I've recently
> acquired something for the Amiga that blows the IBM/PC-based applications
> out of the water: Prolific, Inc.'s PRO-NET and PRO-BOARD (contrasted with
> p-CAD on the 'DOS machines).  And Prolific states: "FOR AMIGA ONLY!"

You must not have seen many of the IBM/PC based applications that do
that same job. My brother evaluated a half-dozen AT/'386-based
packages, most of them ranging from $3K up, as part of the job of
laying out the schematics and PC boards for a new data-aquisition
system. Since he prefers the Amiga, he wanted to buy one for home and
do some of that kind of work here. But he couldn't find anything
decent. He looked at Pro-net and Pro-board, and Pro-net was OK, but
Pro-board was totally inadequate. For example, one of their circuit
boards was a 6 layer board. Pro-board can't handle that. Another of
their circuit boards (for an old project) is about 2 feet square. He
wasn't sure if Pro-board could handle that, either. And, finally,
Pro-board doesn't have much of an autorouter. Not only is the ordinary
autorouter "dumb", but the "rip-up-and-retry" style autorouters that
suck the guts out of a '386 simply aren't available for the Amiga.

BTW, he's currently using Schema on a Compaq '386. He says it's a
mid-range package, halfway between junk and the "premium" packages
that cost around 8 grand. Pro-board, in the IBM world, would be
classified as lower-mid-range, while Schema would be at the top end of
that range. But Schema certainly did the job (6 months from conception
to production... amazing what an experienced design team and good CAD
software can do for a complex project). 

BTW, he says that AutoCad makes Amiga programs look like junk, too...
and AutoCad is far from the best CAD package available for the PC. He
pointed at one ad (in EE Times? ECN?) for a program which would run in
'386 mode, for example....

On the other hand, I suspect that the market for Schema on the Amiga
is slim to none... would YOU pay $6,000 for such a program? Yes, maybe
your company would -- but only for one of the company's computers,
which is unlikely to be an Amiga (if your company has Amigas, they're
probably in the corporate video production center -- e.g. Texaco was
thinking of buying a bunch for their new video center).

He's buying a '386. 'Nuff said.

--
    Eric Lee Green              P.O. Box 92191, Lafayette, LA 70509     
     ..!{ames,decwrl,mit-eddie,osu-cis}!killer!elg     (318)989-9849    
"I have seen or heard 'designer of the 68000' attached to so many names that
 I can only guess that the 68000 was produced by Cecil B. DeMille." -- Bcase