General Statistical Packages Comparisons - Agricultural Statistical Data Analysis Using Stata - page 2

Stata also takes the approach of having a tight integration with
Internet resources. This is particularly helpful with a high-speed con-
nection. The program will routinely update itself either with your
permission or as a background event—your choice. These upgrades
are always free within a specific version number. This doesn't sound
like much, but the software is routinely upgraded and improved.
Searching for help also is integrated with the Internet. Many help
files and examples can be accessed from the Help menus. These files
may be part of the package of files that were loaded when installed on
your computer or they may be on Web sites that the program searches.
Stata maintains many of these examples and many are available from
third parties.
Stata's commitment to the program goes beyond upgrades. If
you need technical help, send your question to Stata and include
your serial number; you will get a response within a few days. Not
a generic response, but a specific response to your question. They
offer a couple of online courses on using and programming the soft-
ware, which includes many examples in an interactive environment.
Their Web site has an extensive bookstore with texts on using both
Stata as well as statistical textbooks. They even have a journal, Stata
Journal, with articles on using Stata to implement various statistical
functions.
Finally, unlike other statistical packages that may only offer a lim-
ited number of statistical functions, Stata offers a comprehensive set
of statistical functions as well as extensibility through its built-in pro-
gramming language. Stata appears to be committed to releasing ver-
sions of their software simultaneously on PC Windows, Macintosh,
and Unix ® platforms. Stata also takes the approach of having a tight
integration with Internet resources. This is particularly helpful with
a high-speed connection. The program will routinely update itself
either with your permission or as a background event—your choice.
These upgrades are always free within a specific version number. This
doesn't sound like much, but the software is routinely upgraded and
improved. Searching for help also is integrated with the Internet.
Many Help files and examples can be accessed from the Help menus.
These files may be part of the package of files that were loaded when
installed on your computer or they may be on Web sites that the