Pre-purchase question

[postaquestion]

I would like to purchase Visual Fortran, and have a question about system requirements. Do I need to purchase microsoft platform in addition to the Intel Compiler?

If it is optional to use the platform, what is the benefit to use it?

[TimP]

This question has been answered at length previously on this forum. If you want the C++ compile capability, MS Visual Studio Express is a no-cost options for ifort command line usage only. So, the first big benefit of purchased VS is the GUI operation.
The new self-contained ifort PPE gives you the GUI compile for Fortran, but apparently excludes even a companion VSE installation for C compilation.

[Steven_L_Intel1]

Tim, I guess you missed the big news regarding version 10 where it includes the necessary pieces of Microsoft Visual Studio. New purchases and those people who purchase support renewals get the Visual Studio pieces along with a compiler, so there is nothing else to buy.

There are some small limitations when using the included Visual Studio. These are:

• no resource editor
• no automatic conversion of CVF projects
• no single source compile menu item
• no data breakpoints in the debugger

Of course there is also no Microsoft C++ compiler. If the limitations do not bother you then you do not need to purchase anything else in order to use Intel Visual Fortran 10.

For people who are under current support agreements, they do not automatically get access to the Visual Studio component. Most of these users, of course, had already purchased Visual Studio in order to use the earlier version of the compiler. Those who used some other method, such as command line only support, can submit a request to Intel Premier support and we will help you out.

Customers who had purchased the Professional Edition 9.1 don't have to do this as they will get Visual Studio automatically. if you upgrade to the new Professional Edition with Intel MKL then you also get the Visual Studio component which we refer to as Visual Studio Premier partner edition or VSPPE.

If you want to do mixed language programming with Microsoft Visual C++, or need one of the missing features, then you will have to purchase Microsoft Visual Studio and then install Intel Visual Fortran.

[John4]

Maybe it's because I'm a ---non-IT related--- engineer, but the more I think it, the less I see the point in those limitations to the VS-PPE.

Is it just the way Microsoft has to remind us all that they own the IDE? Or, are those really the pricey components in the VS?

I've always thought that the killer functionality in the VS is the debugger, but maybe I'm wrong. At least the debug tool bar is enabled, isn't it?

[Steven_L_Intel1]

Yes, you have debug support. The resource editor, Microsoft insists, is part of their C++ product and is not available to us. Likewise, the CVF converter requires the Visual C++ Project converter which again is part of the C++ product. The other two limitations are not deliberate and we are working with Microsoft to see if we can resolve those; they are due to how those menu entries are created in the Visual Studio environment.

The resource editor is the one piece that can be a real problem for some applications. everything else is more at the annoyance level. We are looking for an alternative source. Even the Visual C++ Express Edition does not include it.