Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!asuvax!ncar!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!uunet!infonode!ingr!b11!b23b.ingr.com!tim
From: tim@b23b.ingr.com (Tim Anderson)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Re: Intergraph workstation....
Message-ID: <1991Feb21.204359.29944@b11.ingr.com>
Date: 21 Feb 91 20:43:59 GMT
References: <1991Feb17.114258.27965@ariel.unm.edu>
Sender: @b11.ingr.com
Reply-To: uunet!ingr!b23b!tim!tim
Organization: Intergraph Corporation
Lines: 75

In article <1991Feb17.114258.27965@ariel.unm.edu>, ptran@hydra.unm.edu (Michael
Burg) writes:

>1.  If any of you ever uses Intergraph workstation, how is it performance 
>    in terms of hardware and engineer softwares.

Yes, that's almost all I work with.  My comments may seem a little slanted
toward Intergraph, but all my experience with portation and systems support 
has been very much in favor of Intergraph's systems.

>2.  Why don't they use X for their windows interface?

Intergraph has been in the CAD/CAE business for over 20 years and developed
its windowing system way before X windows was defined by MIT.  Note here that
Intergraph is no different than other workstation vendors, because each has
their own window system that they developed (that includes SUN,SGI,DEC,IBM,
HP,Apollo, etc.).   Intergraph is not fully based on X because it is very
much a developer of application software not just a workstation vendor.  It
is a much easier task to build a piece of hardware, put an OS on top of it,
plug X in as a graphics "option", and then let the VARs and OEMs and SW
Vendors deal with porting their applications to the new device *than* it is
to develop a new piece of hardware (that has to support the hundreds/thousands
of existing applications that you are selling and developing with previously
developed graphical systems.  It has only been in recent months that X has
gotten to the level of performance that would make any attempt to convert
worthwhile and it's only a good performer if you server has proprietary
extensions that let it do hardware assisted graphics (eg., 3D, double
buffering,
etc.) 
 
>3.  They do have xwindow on their CD disk, but the X window libraries used
>    for programmer must be paid to get when others like Sun, DEC, HP comes with
>it.

If you buy a compiler the libraries, etc. should come along at no extra 
charge - you need to check with your system administrator to get a load
key.

>4.  How about support service?  So far, I gets very poor responses from 
>Intergraph.

Intergraph has been rated along with all other computer system vendors by
various magazines/polls and for the past 10 years have been rated number
one in customer service satification.  What specifically are you having
problems with??

>I don't like their own screen manager window interface, but I have to use the
>Intergraph workstation since it has circuit schem. capture and hybrid eng.
>design.  Any of you out there knows other vendors like Sun, DEC who supports
>X window interface and other engineer products running under X window.  The
>products I'm looking at are schematic capture, Hybrid design, and 3D thermal
>analysis program.  So far, I know the thermal program is from Pacific Num.
>Co. however, it has a lot of bugs which I considered as poorly coded program,
>buggy and I still cannot live with it.

Intergraph was not the only CAE vendor that participated in the benchmark
conducted at Sandia. I am pretty sure that the systems you are asking 
about were aware of the of the benchmark and either decided not to 
participate because they had nothing to offer to meet the requirements,
failed to pass the benchmark, or were beyond the budget of the contract.
Part of Intergraph's solution is the ability to intergrate diverse applications
into a cohert system and I believe that was one key issue where the others
fell short.


Of course, these comments are solely my own and not those of my employer.
--
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