Major problem with 6.0.2.1
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg89347] Major problem with 6.0.2.1
- From: "Michael Morrison" <morrison at nhn.ou.edu>
- Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 02:51:36 -0400 (EDT)
- Organization: University of Oklahoma
- Reply-to: <morrison at nhn.ou.edu>
Very recent I upgraded from 6.0.1.0 to 6.0.2.1. I have found this latest version of Mathematica almost totally dysfunctional. Now when I load notebooks that previously worked fine, almost invariably I get one or more messages warning of an error as a result of an internal self-check. (I've never seen such messages with earlier versions.) The messages send me to a Wolfram site that solicits details about my problem, which I provide, but which doesn't explain the message, the problem or how to deal with it. The site says that the problem may not affect the execution of my notebook or results. But something is affecting execution of a lot of my notebooks! Since installing 6.0.2.1, notebooks that used to run fine now cause Mathematica to crash (!)---a problem I have not had since about version 4. Even when that doesn't happen, trying to run a notebook typically generates still more of these irritating self-check errors. I have tried everything I can think of to ensure that the problem is not with my PC (cleaned the registry, various internal maintenance checks, even defragmented by hard disc, etc.) No improvement or change. Moreover, the problems appear on a second PC I use where I loaded 6.0.2.1 a couple of hours ago. I've sent urgent pleas for help to the appropriate Wolfram site but so far have received no reply. (I'm facing an urgent deadline in about 8 hours and am suddenly unable to do anything until this problem gets fixed, since most of my notebooks won't execute any more or will do so only amidst a blizzard of errors.) If anyone can offer constructive advice I would be most grateful. I'm running on a conventional Windows XP machine. I feel compelled to add that this is only the latest (and by far most severe) problem I've had since the release of Version 6. I've used Mathematica since about version 2 (very primitive non-GUI interface, very limited help info, couldn't evaluate every integral known to man correctly---but it did what you told it to almost always correctly, and it rarely crashed). Every subsequent version through 5 improved the product, eliminated errors, enhanced usability, and maintained the high standards of reliability and freedom from bugs that has made Mathematica the choice of a lot of scientists and teachers, including those at my institution. Then came 6. Bugs all over the place. Commands that don't work even in the help browser (try TableAlignments in TableForm). A new help browser in which a search now provides reams of links somewhere in which you might find buried the information you want. Unless the information you need isn't there: So far as I can figure out, it's still not possible, now months after the release of 6.0 and however may subsequent releases, to find a list of what is in the standard packages; neither can I find a single place to see all the backward-consistency problems that plague notebooks written previously. And so forth. Important commands that used to work fine now sometimes work and sometimes don't (PlotLegend, which I use throughout myriad notebooks, now doesn't work at all with many types of plot commands where it used to work fine, in versions before 6.). For a while I reported these to Mathematica, and always got very constructive replies. However usually those replies indicated that the problem is a known bug that would be fixed soon. That's fine, but it's now months after the release of 6 and many of these problems are still problems (unless they were fixed in 6.0.2.1, which I can barely get to work at all). Moreover, some bugs should require user reports (e.g., things that don't work even in the Help Browser). Several teachers I know are so frustrated by 6.0 that they're trying to persuade their institutions to switch from Mathematica to a competitor So far I've argued strongly against that change here. But this latest debacle with 6.0.2.1 is the straw that broke my camel's back. I don't know what's happened at Wolfram, but whatever has happened is a real shame. Mathematica is fast degenerating from a vital research tool into software with problems I expect only from a Microsoft product. Frustrated, furious, and fed up. Michael A. Morrison David Ross Boyd Professor of Physics & General Education Dept. Physics & Astronomy University of Oklahoma Norman, OK 73019 Phone: 405 325-3961 FAX: 405 325-7557 EMAIL: morrison at mail.nhn.ou.edu WEB PAGE: http://www.nhn.ou.edu/~morrison
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