SwiftWX 2.5

[mrobinett]

I must admit, I wasnt too thrilled at first at upgrading my SwiftWX program until I read some of the upgrades, the position tracking in particular is pretty cool, as a former avid APRS user and builder of numerous digipeaters in N Florida, its a little cheesy but it might prove useful, if your on the net downloading the data, might as well put out your position and see who's around. The graphics are better, not sure about the storm reports, they take up alot of area when you want to see details in a certain area, you can just unclick them though.
If you are a SwiftWX user and havent upgraded in a while, it has improved over the last couple of revisions, they really seemed to try and address some real problems with the program before.
My 0.02.

Mike

 

[Edward Ballou]

I am really stoked about this release. Rory is doing a stupendous job. In talking with him at the conference and exchanging emails, there's a whole lot more coming down the line. I seriously wouldn't use anything else.

For those without ARPS, the GPS tracking is awesome. You can set up groups so you're not visible to everyone (as the default group is 0).

As a software developer, I know good products take time to build and this is definitely a fine wine type of application.

Just a couple screenshots that were forwarded to me on April 6(I'm in the Baloo Mobile):

 

[John Hudson]

I loaded up the trial version of the latest build of SwiftWx, and was real impressed with the suite of features. Unfortunately, I found that it really bogged my computer down in a big way. GR Level3 didn't seem to be nearly as demanding in this respect.

John
VE4 JTH

 

[Edward Ballou]

I loaded up the trial version of the latest build of SwiftWx, and was real impressed with the suite of features. Unfortunately, I found that it really bogged my computer down in a big way. GR Level3 didn't seem to be nearly as demanding in this respect.
[/b]

I would double-check your machine against the requirements and suggested requirements. The GIS engine is a pretty hefty component but very nice. I have a 1.4 Ghz with 640 MB of ram and a 64 MB memory card. It handles just fine - and that computer was spankin new in 2001.

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

I loaded up the trial version of the latest build of SwiftWx, and was real impressed with the suite of features. Unfortunately, I found that it really bogged my computer down in a big way. GR Level3 didn't seem to be nearly as demanding in this respect.

John
VE4 JTH
[/b]

I tried SwiftWX a couple years ago, back with my Inspiron 8100 was still considered a pretty decent piece of hardware. It bogged my system down a ton -- to the point of it being nearly unuseable. This is the same computer that I was using to play the latest FPS games on (back when I played FPS games). My impression is that the slowness was due to inefficient coding.

I'm sure some people will like it, and it does make for a good situational awareness tool when you're armchair chasing, but in the field I've found that my trial copy of GrLevel 3 has really been unbeatable in terms of speed and functionality. I haven't tried the latest version of SwiftWX, but to be honest, I wasn't impressed with the older versions enough to really want to. I'd suggest that if you're planning on buying this, give the trial download a test run first to see if it fits your needs on the system that you have.

 

[Darren Addy]

No experience with SwiftWX, and I hope I'm not insulting anyone's intelligence here :unsure: but the manufacturer's "minimum system requirements" probably assume it is the only program running. If you are having performance issues remember to close any unneeded programs. I'm often surprised by the number of Windows users who don't understand that each application they have running (simultaneously) is using up RAM (memory) and system resources (processor cycles). More RAM in your machine is often the cheapest performance upgrade you can make.

Also, your Windows system performance may be compromised by spyware/adware running in the background without your knowledge - adding a program like SwiftWX may be the "straw that breaks the camel's back" in terms of bogging things down.

Darren Addy
Kearney, NE