alternatives to SigmaPlot and SAS?

[amk]

Hi All:
I am a recent convert from PC to Apple, and I am looking for some software suggestions. On my PC I used SigmaPlot to produce graphs - they come out looking much more professional than Excel. I also had been using SAS for my statistics. I was wondering if anyone had suggestions on Mac-friendly software that was equivalent to these, and also ones that work with the Intel chips. I've had someone suggest R for the statistics, but I'm looking for something that might not have such a steep learning curve and is more user-friendly. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[que2]

There simply are no good Mac alternatives to SigmaPlot and don't let anyone tell you there are. If they believe there are it means they've never used SigmaPlot or have adjusted to a very low standard.

 

[swiftaw]

I use R. The learning curve is not that steep for basic statistical analysis. Ok, so it's not point and click, but usually one or two commands will get you the basics such as ANOVA, regressions, t-tests etc.

 

[mkrishnan]

This is kind of a perennial problem area for Macs... SPSS finally switched approaches so that they could provide mainstream Mac versions, not that their software is necessarily a replacement for SAS (it really depends on how much of SAS you use).

<R> is certainly powerful... it's almost as powerful as SAS in most areas. But as you said, its learning curve is even worse than SAS.

I honestly would seriously consider options to either just run Windows in Bootcamp (or if it works, in Parallels or VMWare) and run SAS and Sigmaplot on top of that, or else remote desktop to a Windows box at your institution.

 

[Rosaleigh Poe]

Windows operating system to use SigmaPlot

You say there are no good alternatives and you suggest using bootcamp...can you also suggest a cheaper windows operating system (i.e., are any of the free downloads reliable or any good) ? - I looked online and they are ~ 183 bucks! + 30 for the new mac operating system....

 

[exegete77]

What about Gigawiz?

Or take a look at the suggestions for Free statistical software.

Or try this: Statistical Analysis.