Re: MicroSoft C 6.0F

MicroSoft C6.0 has many nice features that C5.1 or C4.0 do not have, that make
the upgrade worthwhile. First of all(and most important to me) it includes a
whole bunch more in the way of graphics support. It now has a presentation
graphics library that is good for producing graphs very painlessly. It is not
as flexible as one would like, but is very satisfying none the less. As
before,
all graphics are supported in HGC, CGA, EGA, and some VGA modes. Other new
features include the Programmer's Workbench, an improved CodeView debugger, and
some small increases in compiled program execution speed. The Programmer's
Workbench is a nice idea, combining the compiler, make facility, codeview, and
rather extensive on-line help into a single programming environment.
Unfortunately, the Programmer's Workbench is painfully slow to use unless you
have a fast 386 machine. I use a 16 MHz 286 box, and found using the PWB to
be too tedious to use. The on-line help is a great idea though. It includes
a complete Library reference manual. Unfortunately, there is no printed
library
reference manual included with the compiler, but one is available from
MicroSoft
Press for 20 or 30 bucks.


There are a few bugs to watch out for. I have found and comfirmed with
MicroSoft 3 or 4 bugs with some of the new graphics stuff. Overall however,
I have not felt like the version is bug ridden. MicroSoft has been working
on this compiler long enough that there are not many bugs. There are probably
some bugs in the PWB, but I have not used it much, thus have only found one
bug in it. I wouldn't worry about bugs too much. If you do have a problem,
MicroSoft tech support is quite helpful.


Overall, I would suggest that you do invest the $150 for the upgrade, the new
features make it worthwhile, and MicroSoft has promised to increase the speed
of the PWB.


-Andy Cook, MIT (acook@athena.mit.edu)
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