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A stand-alone package useful to the scientist, engineer and student
As with most things, the more familiar are what we usually feel comfortable dealing with on a daily basis. In this case, although there are probably thousands of software packages pertinent to data analysis worldwide, we tend to concentrate on the ones from the U.S. It is therefore a nice change to see what else is out there and review a package from our colleagues in Britain, Australia and New Zealand.
GenStat is made to summarize, display and analyze data. It provides some flexibility and much simplicity in doing this, and more than a few surprises in how the routines are laid out, the dialog boxes constructed, and how the user interacts with various parts of the program. It's not that the software is difficult to use, it's just that it seems a bit "different." These differences can sometimes be annoying, as when the user is trying to intuitively feel their way through a menu-driven sequence, or delightful when one discovers an easy way to do something, or an especially illuminating output format. In any event, it is just a bit different from the usual statistical program but offers sufficient coverage in terms of testing and graphics, so as to satisfy almost all of the common analytic needs.
The software is written for PCs running Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000 and XP with minimal hardware requirements (Pentium with 32 MB RAM). It does have the rather annoying requirement for a license key, but this is easy to get with an Internet connect.
Documentation
Readers of these reviews know that this editor is an aficionado of paper manuals, so it is always a joy to sift through a new manual to discover what nuggets may be mined or lead blocks critiqued. In this case, we have more praise than brickbats. While there is not much (save two items) that stands out in the single manual and distinguishes it from the usual, the clear, simple style and logical layout do much to recommend it. The chapter headings are refreshingly descriptive, informing the reader of the tasks that are being done rather than the tests or procedures, and typos seem non-existent. The examples are illustrative and science-oriented....