David Phillips wrote:
> 5. I saw a couple of people mention iShell, which we are also
> examining. Can anyone offer insights as to how iShell and Revolution
> compare on different features, stability, speed of development,
> etc.? (I realize that some of the best functionality with iShell
> requires 3rd party plug-ins. We are limited in budget to around
> US$2K/year per developer, and are aware of the companies pricing
> structures.)
I can probably offer some insight here - I am a "professional" member of
Revolution, and a "Gold" member of iShell. You can also find some commentary
in the archives about "classes of programming tools", a discussion had
earlier in this list. In a nutshell -
Features - Revolution would win in the "broad features" category, because it
can do almost anything, and delivers the end result to virtually any
platform.
Stability - I would give this to iShell "hands down". Crashes in iShell are
extremely rare, while Revolution is still in the growing-pains phase.
Ease of distribution - Revolution wins here. It makes the process easy to
export runtime material to any or all platforms. Ishell is a bit more
finicky "hand done" process, and requires QuickTime to be installed (though
their installation tools ("CD Launcher") help some here.
Creation process - Rev makes great "apps" and can support multimedia. Ishell
makes great multimedia and can support "apps". If you are making a "utility"
- Rev, all the way. If you are making an interactive kiosk - iShell. I would
say that Rev can make a app or utility in half the time or less than iShell,
and iShell can make a "sexy" interactive multimedia in half the time or less
than Rev.
Cost - I consider both to be fair.
Company interaction - I believe Runtime Revolution has the developers a bit
more at heart than Tribeworks. 'Nuff said.
Bottom line - I'll keep using both indefinitely. I like Rev better than
RealBasic, and iShell better than Director. And that is the way I think of
it... I don't normally compare Rev and iShell directly.
HTH
--
Troy
RPSystems
www.rpsystems.net
