IDL for Mac OS X Shipping

IDL, the long awaited software for data analysis, visualization and cross-platform application development, has begun shipping according to reader reports. The tool includes infoimaging features, including mathematics, statistics, graphics, image processing, mapping and general data manipulation.

IDL 5.6 for Mac OS X runs using the free XFree86 (XDarwin) X11 software package. All graphical user interfaces and graphical output are produced as X11 graphics; Research System Inc. (creators of IDL) say the Motif look and feel "will be familiar to any UNIX user."

Earlier this year, Research Systems posted a feature describing how the implementation of AltiVec in Motorola's G4 processor would mean a dramatic boost in speed for IDL. The company said "superior performance of AltiVec technology in two recent IDL demonstrations has also guaranteed its place in IDL's next release, where it promises to give IDL users on the Macintosh huge performance gains on their data processing."

If you've received your new copy of IDL for Mac OS X, drop us a note with your initial impressions.

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