Mac Forum / Programming / CodeWarrior / August 2003

In the past I've bought two academic licenses for both the Mac and
Windows versions, and I've encouraged Windows-bound students and
collaborators to use CW because of its excellent support for Standard
C++.  I've been able to create/maintain multi-target console projects
for both Mac and Windows, which has been very valuable.

I'm a researcher, not a developer, and so excessive time spent trying to
learn an environment is especially bad for me. For this reason, in
developing my research simulation systems, I've stuck with the familiar
and reliable: CFM/PEF and Carbon, and MSL's excellent version of the C++
Std. Lib, and PowerPlant. No desire to use the gnu tools or Cocoa.

Now that we don't have academic licenses any more, I'm having to pay
attention to the cost as shown in

http://www.metrowerks.com/MW/Develop/Desktop/Macintosh/Activation.htm

Please help me sort out what to buy here. It looks like I have to make
some decisions now that I didn't have to before,  and there is enough
difference in the cost that I can't just automatically spring for buying
the fully-loaded version like I could with the academic license.  Also,
it looks like I either renew now or pay a lot more later, even though
I'm not sure I need any of CW 9 yet.

The site lists a CW 9 with Windows version. From Ron's comments in this
newsgroup, it looks like CW 9 for Windows is actually just CW 8 for
Windows. So there is no point in buying a CW 9 license that includes
Windows, correct? I can just continue using my CW 8 for Windows. But
what about my multi-target projects?

1. Can I do them in CW 9 without buying the Windows version as well? I
don't need to cross-compile, only export the intact project to CW on
Windows.

The pricing list also reads like PEF is good only for Classic, which of
course isn't true. I haven't seen a clear discussion of what advantages
Mach-O has, other than being more compatible with Apple's tools, but it
looks like MW is leaving PEF behind, or at least charging extra for it.  

2. Is PowerPlant X Mach-O only?

3. There have been many Mach-O problems reported in this group; if I
dump PEF and go Mach-O exclusively in CW 9, what problems will I have to
watch out for? What benefits should I be looking for?

4. How hard will it be to convert an existing PowerPlant project to
PowerPlant X? (I have nothing fancy at all in terms of widgets, but do
have a couple of custom window types.)

Thanks for any advice!