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Version 6.0 Press Releases
CrystalMaker Software (http://www.crystalmaker.com) are pleased to announce the launch of an all-new Mac OS X version of their award-winning CrystalMaker crystal and molecular structures visualization program. CrystalMaker is a highly-interactive program for building, displaying and manipulating all kinds of crystal and molecular structures. Featuring real-time photo-realistic graphics with "out-of-the-screen" 3D (stereo) display, digital video and virtual reality output - plus powerful analysis and diffraction tools,CrystalMaker has become a popular choice in universities, research labs and industry worldwide. CrystalMaker 6.0 is an all-new application, designed without compromise, exclusively for the world's most advanced operating system, the Unix-based Mac OS X. Behind CrystalMaker's elegant "Aqua" interface is a highly-efficient Carbon Event programming system using the native Mach-O runtime model - delivering seamless performance and stability. Spectacular ultra-high resolution 32-bit graphics, PDF and printed output are now immediately available! Also new are sortable and resizable data editors with inline editing, for crystals, molecules, bonding and atomic radii. An elegant symmetry browser, with a search capability, makes crystallographic symmetry even easier. New program windows allow one-click display and labelling of atom sites, colour and radius controls, as well as multiple undo levels and bookmarking of favourite structural views. Text windows now provide fully-formatted Unicode text editing, with drag-and-drop, colouring and display of chemical formulae, as well as active internet links (Mac OS X 10.2 "Jaguar"). Educational and multi-user discounts are available, with tiered upgrade schemes for existing users. A demonstration version, with examples files, can be downloaded from: http://www.crystalmaker.com/crystalmaker/download.html For further information, please refer to our website (www.crystalmaker.com) or e-mail: info@crystalmaker.co.uk.
CrystalMaker Software (http://www.crystalmaker.com) are pleased to announce the release of CrystalMaker 6.2: a major upgrade to their acclaimed crystal and molecular structures visualization software for Mac OS X (recently awarded a perfect 5-mouse rating by Macworld). CrystalMaker 6.2 now includes professional-quality annotation, using Quartz graphics, which can be superimposed over displays of crystal and molecular structures. Textboxes support unicode text (e.g., Japanese), with no limit on the maximum number of characters - and can be selected, resized interactively (with live text wrapping), and easily edited using the Text menu or the new Edit Annotation window. Other new annotation features include elegant arrowhead and line objects, plus the option of dynamic scalebars which can be moved and resized interactively, with automatic distance display in Angstrom or nanometre units. Other new features include improved graphics export, mouse-driven scaling, long filename support (including Unicode characters), the ability to read "blank" document types (files with no type/creator information or file extensions) and much more.
The Review! The world of molecular and crystal modeling gets more interesting all the time. In the past, I've favored other molecular modelers over CrystalMaker... but with all of the improvements and features in this software, I can say nothing but good things about it. I have also been concerned with the price in the past... but it is very true that you get what you pay for. I have only evaluated the demo and therefore don't have access to all the features, however, I can comment on some of my favorites - the interface is gorgeous and is never confusing thanks to available "pop-up" instruction that occurs when you click on a toolbar button. I really like the arrangement of windows... the main display window is flanked by two windows that display information and notes on the structure being displayed (fully editable!). I don't know what I was thinking in the past when I criticized CrystalMaker's display (maybe it was the crappy monitor in my old Performa!) - all of the molecules and crystals I looked at were crisp and clean - the 3D rendering is particularly impressive.
Another cool, unique feature of CrystalMaker is the ability to output Quicktime VR - so with the click of a button you've got QTVR image. I have previously pointed out of some great features of CrystalMaker, such as is its ability to do the fine details... like measuring bond angles on screen, carving out chunks of a structure and determining bond lengths. However, having taken a close look at the latest version, I must say that ALL features of this program are finely polished and well put together - I really can't say anything bad about it. I wouldn't hesitate if you are considering purchasing this software - keep in mind that ScienceMan has based most of his evaluation on the old version 3.1, so I'm sure that the 5.0 version is even more impressive. Stay tuned for an in depth review of the new version in the near future.
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