Macsyma declared the editor's choice. "Macsyma is an extremely versatile program with a unique on-line help system."
| (Score: 1-4) | Derive 3.11 |
f(g) Scholar 2.0 |
Macsyma 2.0* | Maple V.4 |
Mathematica 2.2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Computing power | 3 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
| User interface | 2 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
| Graphics | 3 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
| Value for money | 4 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
* This is the previous release of Macsyma. Maple V.4 is
the contemporary of Macsyma 2.1.
- WIN Magazine, April 1996 (Germany)
"Macsyma solves more math problems correctly than competing
products. The software not only handles large problems, but also treats
subtleties of computations with more care than other programs. Macsyma's
procedural programming language is natural and easy to learn Macsyma's elaborate
on-line help makes the program easy to use. Macsyma is the most
reliable and the least expensive."
- Physics World, March 1996 (UK)
"Macsyma is a powerful and flexible general purpose maths package
which manages to combine being enjoyable and easy to use with the necessary
subtlety and complexity to handle real world problems."
- The Observatory, Oct. 1995 (UK)
Macsyma tops in math test: "Maple was unable to solve three problems, and it produced two wrong answers. Mathematica was unable to do three problems and produced one wrong answer. In comparison, Macsyma could not handle two of the 23 problems, but it got none wrong. . . . in some ways it has the most sophisticated notebooks available. For example Macsyma supports hypertext links. Another welcome interface element is autoloading of functions . . . Frankly I'm surprised that Mathematica and Maple don't do likewise." - Desktop Engineering , Sept. 1995 (USA)
Macsyma scored highest on the most comprehensive test of math software. Dr. Michael Wester tested seven products on 131 selected math problems, and he reports results as correct / incorrect, partly correct / incorrect, and no answer. Imputing numerical scores of 1, and 0 to these results, we get these scores:
Axiom 1.2 |
Derive 3.0 |
Macsyma 419 | Maple V.3 |
Math'ica 2.2 |
MuPad 1.2.1a |
Reduce 3.5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
59.5 |
73.5 |
108* |
90.5 |
88 |
24.5 |
50 |
* Internal tests by Macsyma Inc. show that Macsyma 2.1 and Macsyma 420 score 122 on this test.
The results were published in Computer Algebra Netherlands, Dec. 1994, pages 41-48. An updated version is available by ftp at math.unm.edu:/pub/cas/Paper.ps. - Review by Dr. Michael Wester, Cotopaxi, Inc., April 1995
PRODUCT RATING: Installation 10/10 Ease of use 9.5/10
Overall Rating 9.5/10 Documentation 9/10 Performance 9.5/10
- Design News, March 24, 1995 (USA)
"While the Macsyma 2.0 symbolic math program's flashiest new feature is full fledged graphics animation, what users will appreciate most are its increased speed and formatting flexibility.Macsyma is now the leader in the mathematical program marketplace." - PC Magazine, January 24, 1995 (USA)
"For a good example of exactly how far math software has come in
providingaccessibility you have to look no further than Macsyma 2.0."
[Accessibility is defined as combining power and ease of use.]
- Personal Engineering & Instrumentation News, July,
1995 (USA)
"Macsyma offers a great deal for a very favorable price compared with competing products. For example, no comparable mathematics software can be found with such satisfying on-line help and such an abundance of tutorial demonstrations." - MC Extra, January 1995 (Germany)
"Numerical commands are nearly as numerous as in specialized number-crunching
programs.In its symbolic capabilities, Macsyma is the heavy artillery
of the group." . . . "Macsyma is remarkably easy to use.
It will load automatically any math packages it needs. Macsyma has extensive
on-line help, including sample uses of commands and demonstration files.
Users with heavy math needs should insist on Macsyma. "
- IEEE Spectrum, December 1994 (USA)
"[Macsyma's] ordinary differential equation solvers can be described as outstanding. I found Macsyma to be superior in its ability to find solutions. " - Notices of the Amer. Math. Society, April 1994 (USA)
"When it comes to power and integration with Windows, Macsyma emerges as the best top-end symbolic and numerical computational program. " - Windows User, March 1994 (England)
Users' Comments on Macsyma®
"Macsyma and PDEase have finally freed me from the drudgery of
vector calculus and solving PDEs. Now I have lots of free time for designing
innovative microwave circuits. More than a high end package with enormous
capabilities at an affordable price. " - Prof. Pratap Pramanick,
Telecommunications Research
Laboratory, University of Saskatchewan, Canada
"I want to express my deep satisfaction with Macsyma. I have all
the commercial symbolic math programs and I am putting all the others aside
and I use only Macsyma. "
- Hussein Al-Dhalaan, University of Toronto, Canada
"I definitely prefer Macsyma. Macsyma's knowledge of mathematics is greater than Mathematica's. Macsyma has a VERY good menu system. Macsyma's language seems to me more natural than Mathematica's. To say it short, I found that it is easier for me to solve the problems by hand than to use Mathematica. With Macsyma it is not so. " - Prof. Boris Veytsman, Dept. of Materials Science, Penn. State University
"Of the math packages Macsyma, Maple and Mathematica that I have tried out, I have found Macsyma to have the BEST mathematics and to be the easiest to use." - Richard Tarnawski, Northeastern University
"I want to take the time to let you know how much I appreciate Macsyma. After using Macsyma for just one day, I could accomplish more than after fighting with Mathematica for a year. This is largely due to the friendly interface and template option. Macsyma is also much more stable in the Windows environment, whereas Mxxxxxxxxxx 'crashed' just about every time I used it."
- Ralf Brueckner, M.D., Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (The views expressed above are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army or the Department of Defense.)
"I see better user services from Macsyma Inc. than from any other
company I deal with on a regular basis."
- Jerry B. Altzman, Dept. of Physics, City College of New
York