Should I Upgrade from Mathematica 5 to Mathematica 6?

[jade3]

I have mathematica 5 installed in my computer. Should I upgrade it to version 6? How different is version 6 from version 5? Please advise


-Jade

 

[CompuChip]

Mathematica 6 has been tremendously improved. If you have the chance, upgrade

Some major reasons: many more functions, syntax highlighting, improved error reporting (syntax errors are shown as you type, not as you execute), PDF export, free scaling and (for 3d plots) rotating and some more.

 

[Crosson]

This is a great upgrade!

1) It is now possible to have dynamic expressions/graphics that can be changed in real-time by sliders, checkboxes, etc.

2) The graphics have been much improved, with hardware accelerated zoom and rotate, transparency and anti-aliasing. The default aesthetic algorithms are also much improved, so making multiple plots look good in a single graphic is much easier then ever.

3) Many obscure features that formerly belonged to packages have been included in the main kernel and improved. This includes graphics functions, like Arrow, and mathematical algorithms, e.g. combinatorics.

4) The documentation has been completely rewritten so that it is much more usable then before, approx 40,000 pages of good info.

5) The curated data is unmatched, over 500GB of data that can be accessed over the internet from within Mathematica. This includes data on stars, galaxies, molecules, countries, particles, and more!

There are so many reasons to upgrade, I recommend it highly. If you haven't looked at this page, check it out:

http://www.wolfram.com/products/mathematica/newin6/

This is what convinced me to buy, and I didn't feel misled at all. The features they talk about on this page are really there and easy to use!

 

[jade3]

Thanks Compuchip and Crosson

 

[ahmetnuri1]

Hi,
Does anyone know how to upgrade Mathematica 5 into version 6? Is free upgrade possible? Thanks for help.

 

[jackiefrost]

But... you may find that Mathematica 6 won't display some of your older pre-version 6 notebooks without some work on your part. Also, the new Help system doesn't seem to be as "Helpful" as the version 5. But, maybe these two criticisms are just my own whining :-)

Other than that, version 6 has lots of nice toys to play with.

jf

 

[CompuChip]

Most notebooks worked without problems: some worked immediately, and for some the automatic conversion was marvelous. But maybe you use some specific kind of notebooks it cannot convert.
I can't really comment on the help system, as I usually just use it to look up the exact syntax of a function. Probably it is a personal question whether you like it or not.

 

[PerennialII]

Yeah, with some longer script - like notebooks had to work a bit. But not much, and this was definitely an upgrade over 5 with all the new stuff (and you probably have to pay something for the upgrade unfortunately) and also performance perks.