MathCad
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Mathcad
Mathcad PLUS 6.0 (1995)
Developed by	Mathsoft
Latest release	14.0 / February 12, 2007
OS	Microsoft Windows
Genre	Computer algebra system
License	Proprietary
Website	Mathcad

Mathcad is desktop software for performing and documenting engineering and scientific calculations. First introduced in 1986 on MS-DOS, it was the first to introduce live editing of typeset mathematical notation, combined with its automatic computation. It was also the first to automatically compute and check consistency of engineering units such as the International System of Units (SI). Mathcad today includes some of the capabilities of a computer algebra system but remains oriented towards ease of use and numerical engineering applications. Mathcad was conceived and originally written by Allen Razdow (of MIT), co-founder of Mathsoft which is now part of Parametric Technology Corporation.

Mathcad paved the way for a variety of desktop mathematical tools. It is oriented around a worksheet, in which equations and expressions are displayed graphically (WYSIWYG), as opposed to plain text, an approach later adopted by other systems such as Mathematica and Maple

Among the capabilities of Mathcad are:

• Solving differential equations, with several possible numerical methods
• Graphing functions in two or three dimensions
• Symbolic calculations including solving systems of equations
• Vector and matrix operations including eigenvalues and eigenvectors
• Curve fitting
• Finding roots of polynomials and functions
• Statistical functions and probability distributions
• Calculations in which units are bound to quantities

Although this program is mostly oriented to non-programming users, it is also used in more complex projects to visualize results of mathematical modeling using distributed computing and traditional programming languages. It is often used in large engineering projects where traceability and standards compliance are of importance.^{citation needed}

Mathcad 2.52 (1989)

Mathcad 3.1 (1992)

Controversy

After PTC’s purchase of Mathcad, changes have been made to the Mathcad support policy. The new support policy specifies that single-user licenses are no longer able to receive updates without purchasing a maintenance contract,^[1] as is PTC’s standard policy for all its products.^[2] This applies not only to feature additions, but also to bug fixes.^[3] The price of a maintenance contract, approximately $240 USD, is roughly half the cost of a single-user license upgrade at the time of a major Mathcad release. The maintenance contract provides technical support, extension packs, libraries, a transferable license and other web-based tools for self-help.^[4] Some users who have purchased Mathcad found some of the functionality not performing as expected. As a result, they have expressed their disappointment and are disconcerted that they will not be supplied with fixes. The result has been a sudden and hostile user reaction.^{citation needed}

References

External links

• PTC website
• Mathsoft website
• Mathcad user forums
• Mathcad email list archive
• Mathcad Calculation Server
• Allen Razdow
• Some examples of Mathcad worksheets