SPSS on Tiger

[levil]

This might be a long shot, but does any of you Tiger users use SPSS. Does it work with Tiger? SPSS was one of those software that stopped working on Panther after an upgrade from 10.2

SPSS recently released an upgrade that made it usable on 10.3 (This is the SPSS 11.0.3 version) Considering Panther has been out for (how long?)...

I wonder if the SPSS team worked with apple to make sure their brand new upgrade works with Tiger or not. (and if not, does it work afterall?)

SPSS 13 for Mac is supposed to come out in the near fitire. I do wonder if they are waiting with this release so they can do extensive testing on Tiger (to avid the mistakes of the past)

For software that cost as much as SPSS, it better work... (but historically this has not been the case...)

Any info would be appreciated.

[R.Youden]

I believe that SPSS will work on Tiger but you can never be to sure. If you have a big enough hard drive partition it and install Tiger on the partition but keep the OS with SPSS working on the other.

Does anyone know if Matlab still works on Tiger. I would think it does as it runs on X11. I should find out by the end of the week and I will post here. I will also try and get a copy of SPSS to see if that runs OK.

[Mechcozmo]

Originally Posted by Richard Youden

I believe that SPSS will work on Tiger but you can never be to sure. If you have a big enough hard drive partition it and install Tiger on the partition but keep the OS with SPSS working on the other..

Partitioning a disk destroys the data on it. There are some software programs to prevent that, but overall, you cannot do what you just suggested unless you first backed up all data. I guess you could buy a FireWire hard drive, but thats a bit expensive...

[TomA77]

I can confirm that SPSS 11.0.3 does NOT work with Tiger.

[discoforce]

Well, then I won't be upgrading to Tiger anytime soon...

Bummer, the widgets looked like fun

[Jackk]

Is it possible to download working demo for os x like it is for windows?

I need this badly for my thesis and it's the only reason for me to touch windows nowadays..

[buggybear]

If X11 is already running, Matlab 7.0.0.19901 (R14) works. I tried a few of my older programs and was encountering some errors, but I think those were programatic issues because I mostly use octave now and there are some inconsistencies between the two. YMMV

[mkrishnan]

Originally Posted by TomA77

I can confirm that SPSS 11.0.3 does NOT work with Tiger.

Ouch...full failure to run, or limited functionality or what? Strange that such an app should be broken. But this is important news!

[discoforce]

Originally Posted by Jackk

Is it possible to download working demo for os x like it is for windows?

I need this badly for my thesis and it's the only reason for me to touch windows nowadays..

Nothing on their website (and yup, you can download a demo of SPSS 13 for Windows).

Sounds like you're at a school, and often colleges/universities have licenses for free or low cost versions of SPSS. Or, you may need to just grab another student or teacher with a copy and borrow their laptop for some late night number crunching. I've been there...

[Jackk]

Originally Posted by discoforce

Nothing on their website (and yup, you can download a demo of SPSS 13 for Windows).

Sounds like you're at a school, and often colleges/universities have licenses for free or low cost versions of SPSS..

Yes, I am a student and our school has free copies of SPSS for limited time, but only for windows. So basicly I have a valid license but no software.

[Scottyk9]

Originally Posted by Jackk

Yes, I am a student and our school has free copies of SPSS for limited time, but only for windows. So basicly I have a valid license but no software.

SPSS came out with 11.0.3 for the Mac, which is available for download on their website, and it is the full working copy of SPSS. I think you have to register and log in to SPSS support to access the download page.

On another note, TomA77 (or anyone else), can you provide more information regarding SPSS 11 and Tiger?? much appreciated.

[meghop]

I emailed SPSS about Tiger compatibility. They said that SPSS 11.0.3 is supported up to 10.3.5 (jeez, guys, lol, thanks) and that SPSS was not "certified" to run on Tiger. They completed avoided my question about when they were going to update it so that it works with Tiger. It was the same conversation as when Panther came out. I really hate that company but I'm stuck using their software...sigh.

I am going to install Tiger, then buy an external HD, throw Panther on it, along with SPSS, Endnote, and whatever hell else doesn't work right now, and hope for some patches in the future. The bulk of my dissertation data crunching won't be until Spring 2006 anyway, so hopefully they will have something in the way of a patch or new version or whatever by then. I don't understand these software companies - I'd even buy new versions of their software to be compatible...they are missing an opportunity to take my money.

[Scottyk9]

hmmm... I've been thinking about moving to Stata for a while now, this might just be the final incentive. Anyone have any experience with Stata on a Mac?

[dvdiva]

anyone tried spss 11.02? also is endnote working?

[TomA77]

*
*
SPSS 11.0.3 (and earlier) will NOT LAUNCH on Tiger. (A few bounces, then it quits without an error message.)


You can login to SPSS's site (http://support.spss.com/) to download the software with guest/guest, however you will need a valid serial number to actually run the software. And before you ask: NO, PC serial numbers WILL NOT WORK.

[dvdiva]

so have people tried earlier versions of 11 and 10 or are they just assuming it doesn't work because 11.0.3 doesn't.

[TomA77]

I can confirm that earlier versions have been tested (including 11.0.2) and failed to load.

FYI: Testing included a fresh install of SPSS on a fresh install of Tiger.

SPSS will require an update through SPSS, Inc.

[levil]

Thanks everyone.

This is important info. I might be going to Stata my self. And R works wonderfully too, but ithey are both more messy then SPSS.

Anyone have experience with Stata for mac please let us know. (I might start a thread) Stata is comming out with version 9 in a few weeks.

As far as SPSS is concerned. 11.0.3 (the one that finally got SPSS to work on Panther) came out early this year or late last year. Little overdue I might say. We might have to wait a few years before it'll start working.

(I also hate the company, I wanted to buy their grad pack when they told me it won't work unless I downgrade to version 10.2. There might be an upgrade in the future (11.0.3 that already came out) that'll fix things. But now it is the same game all over again.

There has been much talk about SPSS 13 being released in the near future. I am sure they are holding out so thye can make it tiger compatible. I might buy that when it comes out. It might be a while. (I wish they would just let people who recently purchased 11 to upgrade for free, but they don't. 11 is several years outdated anyways.)

But, again, no guarantees with the new one. Once Tiger gets up to 10.4.1, 10.4.2, we might be screwed. (Heaven forbid you should keep your machine updated, fill security holes, etc.) By the time 13 comes out, SPSS for win might be up to version 14, and Tiger up to 10.5 )

Stata stared to make their software more user friendly when they went from Version 7 to version 8. With version 9 they might actually succeed we'll see.

Anyone with Stata experience, please give us some of your thoughts.

L

[mkrishnan]

Originally Posted by levil

(I also hate the company, I wanted to buy their grad pack when they told me it won't work unless I downgrade to version 10.2. There might be an upgrade in the future (11.0.3 that already came out) that'll fix things. But now it is the same game all over again.

Hmmm...this is interesting. Grad Pack 11.0.2 runs on Panther. At least for me. I think when I got it was around 10.3.5. And it's run on every version since, up to and including 10.3.9. I was about to get 11.0.3, because someone pointed it out here, but for some reason, on the website, it says that the updater doesn't work with gradpack, and that you have to contact tech support via e-mail to get an update for gradpack. Are the two really substantially different pieces of software at the same version level?

I want to move to <R> full time, as much as possible, but you're definitely right, that it can be messy, and it doesn't always provide every statistic you want without fussing. Also, I use some LISREL features that are not implemented in <R> (or anything else except for LISREL, MPlus and EQS), so I guess all-R-all-the-time is a pipe dream. But the latest <R> is stunning in Panther.

As for SPSS 13, I think imputing Tiger compatibility on the thought process at that company is asking for an awful lot....

[TomA77]

Originally Posted by levil

Thanks everyone.

As far as SPSS is concerned. 11.0.3 (the one that finally got SPSS to work on Panther) came out early this year or late last year. Little overdue I might say. We might have to wait a few years before it'll start working.

L

11.0.2 ran--for the most part--on all versions of Panther through 10.3.9.

11.0.3 was just the "official" Panther version.

[meghop]

Originally Posted by TomA77

11.0.2 ran--for the most part--on all versions of Panther through 10.3.9.

11.0.3 was just the "official" Panther version.

True, and versions before 11.0.2 ran on Panther, just terribly, but I remember managing to get it running after a couple fresh installs. Generated a ton of errors and wouldn't run certain analyses. Sigh.
What a pain in the butt. Is it really so hard to stay current, SPSS?
How does Stata compare, and will it be 10.4 friendly? If it's easy to learn if you are familiar with SPSS, I might defect...

[mkrishnan]

Originally Posted by meghop

How does Stata compare, and will it be 10.4 friendly? If it's easy to learn if you are familiar with SPSS, I might defect...

Is Stata all syntax based? This seems to be the case from looking at their website... And it seems to use annoying, inconsistent syntax at that, much as SPSS does.

Stata seems more powerful than SPSS but less powerful than SAS or <R>. Is that accurate, from anyone who has used multiple of these? Stata doesn't seem to do SEM at all, for instance. But its regression options

[levil]

SPSS 11.0.1 did NOT work on Panther.

11.0.2 had problems. I had to kill a certain font otherwise the output died every time. I also had lots of bugs. igraph command had problems. Could not graph things to save my life. I used SPSS for data exploration for HLM (multilevel modeling).

11.0.3 works fine it seems. But... Tiger...

Stata is command based. Most survey research people I talked to (including my sampling prof and one of the head researchers at gallup) say it is the most powerful software. Fast. Slick with lots of features (best treatment of sampling issues out there)

Stata has been exclusively command line up to version 7. They hacked a gui together foe version 8. It is no SPSS but it is a gui. Stata 9 is coming out in a few days. It will have an improved user interface.

Stata 9 will also have multilevel capabilities, but no SEM.

We have stata in our department lab. I never really used it though always wanted to ) I just end up using R for most things. People say it is really user friendly for a command language (something R lacks). Good help, good support. Lots of external packages to install. (Who knows, there might be an SEM package...)

By the way. R does have an SEM package. I don't know how good it is. Probably very basic. I will have to learn it (or something else that is free) soon. In a few years I might be teaching SEM and multilevel modeling in Hungary where the students will not have access to Mplus or HLM.

L

[mkrishnan]

Levil, thanks for the Stata info! I am not that familiar with the whole surveying world, because our (psychology) data collections usually have a lot less participants than yours! I have been playing with MatchIt and optmatch in <R> recently, though, and those seem very nice. I don't know anything, though, about its capabilities in helping you plan / execute a sampling process.

Originally Posted by levil

We have stata in our department lab. I never really used it though always wanted to ) I just end up using R for most things. People say it is really user friendly for a command language (something R lacks). Good help, good support. Lots of external packages to install. (Who knows, there might be an SEM package...)

While <R> isn't really friendly for a command line system, at least its systematic, and its based on object-oriented sorts of principles. So as I learn it, for me personally, its way of thinking often makes sense. Not always, but often.

By the way. R does have an SEM package. I don't know how good it is. Probably very basic. I will have to learn it (or something else that is free) soon. In a few years I might be teaching SEM and multilevel modeling in Hungary where the students will not have access to Mplus or HLM.

The sem package in <R> does fine with basic MLE, and I think it has two-stage OLS, but it doesn't have WLS and it doesn't handle polychoric correlation matrices or asymptotic covariance matrices, AFAIK. So it's really only limited if one is using ordinal or dichotomous data, or somehow otherwise trying to cheat the gods of multivariate normality. As far as your class goes, LISREL offers a free student version. It is actually not so bad. It even has a Mac version, although it is a little buggy. It's limited to something like 15 observed variables, but an unlimited number of cases. I think MPlus also has a free (Windows) version.

[cosmicrover]

Nope- SPSS just bounces in the dock like it's going to start and then when it stops bouncing, no open program, nothing. Just like I had never activated it. UGH! Paper due Tuesday. Looks like I'll have to be on campus a lot longer than expected.

On another note, Endnote "seems" to be doing ok. I've been using it to insert citations in Word, and it's working.
C.