Software Bisque: TheSky 7 and Grand Tour at NEAF

Software Bisque were demonstrating an early version of TheSky 7 at
NEAF, under the working title "TheSky X." It was a universal binary
running under OS X (10.4.6) on a 20" Mactel iMac. The Mac and Windows
versions will have identical functionality and user interfaces
(allowing for differences in the GUI's, of course.)

I had the opportunity to give the software an extensive going-over.
There is no device control yet, but since there were no devices --
telescope mounts -- available to be controlled, that was moot. While it
was evident that this is an early version, the speed, the ease of use,
and the appearance all bode well for the final release. The folks at
Bisque have been, in their own words, "astounded" by OS X. It is clear
that they have fallen in love with the Mac OS, and attendees of all
stripes agreed that Bisque's growing experience with OS X is exerting a
positive influence on their user-interface design. Incidentally, those
Windows users who (understandably) don't keep up with Mac developments
were absolutely blown away to learn that Bisque's iMac was also running
Windows XP Pro SP2.

Software Bisque is unable to provide a release date for TheSky 7. My
guess, and I have /no/ inside information, is sometime late this year
for a student version and 2007 for the pro version.

Software Bisque is in the early stage of not just an update, but a
complete re-write of their software for Windows and Mac OS; to be
specific, they are not simply updating the Windows versions and then
porting to the Mac. They are, in effect, writing entirely new software
simultaneously for both OS's. Emphasizing again that I have no inside
information, my guess is that CCDSoft will follow TheSky 7 and TPoint
will follow that.

"Grand Tour" for Mac and Windows has come a long way since I was an
Alpha tester this time last year. I don't have a release date for The
Grand Tour, either, but the version I saw at NEAF appeared to be
stable, full-featured (as near as anyone without full access to the
design objectives could tell), and quite polished looking. This will be
a beautiful and fun piece of demonstration software for amateur
astronomers and K-12 educators alike.

Davoud

--
usenet *at* davidillig dawt com

Looks like the Bisque Bros are finally realizing that they need to make
major updates to TheSky to keep up with the competition.

Matthew Ota
TheSky 6 user

Davoud wrote:
Software Bisque were demonstrating an early version of TheSky 7

Hi Davoud:

Assuming you are familiar with The Sky 6 (you may not be, as there was
never an Apple version), what are the major differences between 6 and
7? Not too many, I hope, as I'm just now really comfortable with The
Sky 6 Professional. ;-)

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
http://skywatch.brainiac.com/astroland/index.htm

Like SCTs and MCTs?
Check-out sct-user, the mailing list for CAT fanciers:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sct-user

See: http://journals.aol.com/rmollise/UncleRodsAstroBlog/
For Uncle Rod's Astro Blog.

Matthew Ota wrote:
Looks like the Bisque Bros are finally realizing that they need to make
major updates to TheSky to keep up with the competition.

Matthew Ota
TheSky 6 user

I haven't been paying close attention. What do you think is better than
TheSky 6 these days? Thanks.

Davoud
TheSky 6 user

--
usenet *at* davidillig dawt com

Most amateur astronomers use Starry Nights software.

Most professional telescope operators use TheSky, as it can run many
different kinds of telescopes.

I use TheSky version 6 with my personal telescope.

I have been using TheSky version 5 at two different telescopes at Mt
Wilson Observatory for the past five years or so.

IMHO nothing is better than TheSky, as you can tinker with it ad
infinitum

Matthew Ota

Matthew Ota wrote:
Most amateur astronomers use Starry Nights software.

Hi Matthew:

Some amateurs use Starry Night. Quite a few even, but "most"? I don't
think so. It's nice software, but a little on the hoggish side when it
comes to resources IMHO. It's also a little too far on the "pretty"
side for use out in the dark for my taste.

While The Sky is certainly used by some professionals, it's very
accessible for anyone, and, unlike Starry Night, it's endlessly
configurable. You can turn off all the pretty junk.

Frankly, however, I--and many other active amateurs--have turned away
from planetarium software, pretty or otherwise, to "planners" like our
own Greg Crinklaw's SkyTools. IMHO, the list/database methophor makes
more sense for the way most observers work.

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
http://skywatch.brainiac.com/astroland/index.htm

Like SCTs and MCTs?
Check-out sct-user, the mailing list for CAT fanciers:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sct-user

See: http://journals.aol.com/rmollise/UncleRodsAstroBlog/
For Uncle Rod's Astro Blog.

"RMOLLISE" wrote in message
ups.com...

...snip

Frankly, however, I--and many other active amateurs--have turned away
from planetarium software, pretty or otherwise, to "planners" like our
own Greg Crinklaw's SkyTools. IMHO, the list/database methophor makes
more sense for the way most observers work.

Peace,
Rod Mollise

...also SkyMap Pro has similar to the above, is very configurable, great for
generating observing lists, logs and charts.
Cheers
Paul

On 10 May 2006 21:33:26 -0700, "Matthew Ota"
wrote:

Most amateur astronomers use Starry Nights software.

Most professional telescope operators use TheSky, as it can run many
different kinds of telescopes.

I use TheSky version 6 with my personal telescope.

My observation is that more amateurs use TheSky for telescope control,
but more use Starry Night as a standalone planetarium.


IMHO nothing is better than TheSky, as you can tinker with it ad
infinitum

I have long considered TheSky to be the best planetarium program, but I
don't anymore. It is badly in need of updating. It seriously needs its
user interface cleaned up, and its lack of support for ASCOM telescope
drivers limits its ability to take full advantage of the features of
many mounts. The properties and methods it exposes are also quite
limited compared with the most recent Starry Night. I'd love to see the
next release of TheSky address these issues, but I'm not optimistic (the
same problems existed when V6 was released). The Bisques are hostile to
ASCOM, and nowhere near as responsive to user requests as the folks
responsible for Starry Night. I'm afraid that the changes will be more
cosmetic than fundamental (as in V5 to V6).

The only reason I continue to use TheSky is because it is required for
TPoint.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

Chris L Peterson wrote:

I have long considered TheSky to be the best planetarium program, but I
don't anymore. It is badly in need of updating. It seriously needs its
user interface cleaned up, and its lack of support for ASCOM telescope
drivers limits its ability to take full advantage of the features of
many mounts. The properties and methods it exposes are also quite
limited compared with the most recent Starry Night. I'd love to see the
next release of TheSky address these issues, but I'm not optimistic (the
same problems existed when V6 was released). The Bisques are hostile to
ASCOM, and nowhere near as responsive to user requests as the folks
responsible for Starry Night. I'm afraid that the changes will be more
cosmetic than fundamental (as in V5 to V6).


Hi Chris:

But...I believe 6 _will_ allow you to use ASCOM to interface a scope
rahter than the built-in interface. Also, with the progession of
"hotfixes," I find the user interface via the Toolbar pretty good.

I've tried Starry Night on numerous occasions, but I just have not
every been able to get friendly with it. It's both too much and too
little for me. ;-)

In my opinon, The Sky 6 Pro is as good as planetarium software gets.
With the addendum, that, as I said earlier, I've turned away from
planetariums for much of what I do. Instead...Skytools and the other
planners (Astroplanner, Deep Sky), seem to fit my needs better much of
the time.

The thing is, though, if you need integration with T-point, CCDsoft,
Orchestrate or any of the other good and very useful Bisque programs,
you need The Sky 6 Professional. For most "advanced" (whatever that
means) amateurs, it's still _The Sky_. And when you consider the fact
that many people regularly pay more for an eyepiece, it's not an overly
painful buy. IMHO, The Sky 6 Pro probably belongs on every serious
amateur's hard drive. It's till the gold standard. ;-)

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
http://skywatch.brainiac.com/astroland/index.htm

Like SCTs and MCTs?
Check-out sct-user, the mailing list for CAT fanciers:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sct-user

See: http://journals.aol.com/rmollise/UncleRodsAstroBlog/
For Uncle Rod's Astro Blog.

Davoud wrote:
Software Bisque were demonstrating an early version of TheSky 7

RMOLLISE:
Hi Davoud:

Assuming you are familiar with The Sky 6 (you may not be, as there was
never an Apple version), what are the major differences between 6 and
7? Not too many, I hope, as I'm just now really comfortable with The
Sky 6 Professional. ;-)

You probably missed this, but I've said repeatedly in this forum that I
won't cut off my nose to spite my face. Yeah, I have seven Macs but I
also have a Windows laptop running XP Pro SP2 with TheSky 6
Professional, CCDSoft, TPoint, MaximDL CCD/DSLR, Sky Tools, Cartes du
Ciel, Registax, and you-name-it. So there :-) I'm /really/ looking
forward to getting a MacBook Pro and running my favorite Windows
software /simultaneously/ with my Mac software and my Unix software --
no more swapping laptops in the observatory according on the task at
hand. There was a guy at NEAF with a new MacBook Pro, and Mac and
Windows users alike were completely blown away -- three windows, three
OS's, full-speed, with the ease and elegance that only a Mac can
provide!

My requirements aren't as rigorous as those of Mr. Peterson -- I like
TheSky 6 just fine -- though I don't see too much difference between
TheSky 6 on Windows and TheSky 5 for Mac -- except that the Mac version
runs on Mac OS 9 and previous. OS 9 is analagous to Windows 98 -- works
fine, but it is obsolete and going nowhere.

Notice I haven't answered your question. TheSky 7 is in a very early
stage of development*, and many features are not yet implemented. I
tried to access the preferences, e.g., but got a "not yet functional"
message. Bisque are emphasizing that this is not a simple update, but a
complete re-writing of the software. They're bringing it to the Mac
because they see sufficient demand to make it worth their investment
and much of the code is identical or very similar to that of the
Windows version now that Macs use Intel processors. Bisque are
implementing OpenGL, and the program ran /very/ fast on the 2GHz Intel
Dual Core iMac (and that's a consumer-level machine with only 128MB
VRAM.) I fear that on a MacBook Pro designed to handle real-time
effects in on-site video editing it'll actually cause the moon to speed
up in its orbit.) The visual interface is entirely new -- colorful --
which will please some and turn off others. Beyond that, I really don't
know. Bisque family members recognize me by sight, probably even
remember my name by now, but I do not have access to proprietary
information.

I expect be a beta tester for TheSky 7, but I won't be able to discuss
the beta software. I'll certainly be able to talk it up -- or down --
after it is released, however.

Davoud

* Daniel Bisque said "Ouch!" when I wrote on a Mac astronomy forum that
Software Bisque must be the slowest developers on earth, or words to
that effect. But I couldn't dispute the fact that a complete re-write
of TheSky, CCDSoft, and TPoint is a major undertaking.

--
usenet *at* davidillig *dawt* com