Could anybody from the MicroCal development team comment, please,
on that?
I like all new features in v5.0
but speed was always a major advantage of Origin.

I am glad that you enjoy the new and improved features in Origin 5.0. In
general, Origin 5.0's performance is similar to Origin 4.1 32 bit in the
various areas that we tested. However, due to an unavoidable increase in
overhead associated with achieving a modern Microsoft look and feel, Origin 5.0
may take a little longer than Origin 4.1 to open large projects with many
different child windows. Users should, of course, use Origin in a way that
meets their goals and needs. However, we have found that the following
techniques can decrease open time for large projects with many child windows:

1. Select Tools Options, uncheck the WYSIWYG in Page View Mode checkbox on
the Text Fonts tab of the Options window, and then select View:Page View.

2. Re-organize your large projects with many child windows into smaller
projects with fewer child windows.

3. Save child windows as separate files (File:Save Window As), delete them
from the large project, and then re-open them as needed (File Open).

4. Save the large project with many child windows with the child windows open
and in cascaded order (Window:Cascade) or with the child windows minimized.

5. Limit the number of text labels, especially those with multiple fonts.

Sergey,

Not only it is slower (significantly!!! by 3-4 times), but it crashes even more
often than the 4.1 one,
which has quite a few bugs (e.g., Origin 4.1 cannot deal with paths longer than
about 20
characters, and ALWAYS crashes if the path is longer than that, or by some
reason it does not like font Times
for Y axis and places weird looking box instead of text, etc, etc).

As an example of new problems I cannot open some of my old projects, created by
Origin 4.1.
Origin 5.0 crashes immediately with no reason.

In response to Alexei Orlov's response:

You write:

>Not only it is slower (significantly!!! by 3-4 times),

In response:

I am not sure whether or not you checked out the response provided by
Gary Lane. If you have not, it outlines the reasons why the speed of
Origin 5.0 might be considered somewhat slower than that of Origin 4.1.
It also outlines some of the ways that users can help to increase the
speed with which projects open, windows minimize or maximize, etc. I
have provided that response below:

In general, Origin 5.0's performance is similar to Origin 4.1 32 bit
in the various areas that we tested. However, due to an unavoidable
increase in overhead associated with achieving a modern Microsoft look
and feel, Origin 5.0 may take a little longer than Origin 4.1 to open
large projects with many different child windows. Users should, of
course, use Origin in a way that meets their goals and needs. However,
we have found that the following techniques can decrease open time for
large projects with many child windows:

1. Select Tools Options, uncheck the WYSIWYG in Page View Mode check
box on the Text Fonts tab of the Options window, and then select
View:Page View.

2. Re-organize your large projects with many child windows into smaller
projects with fewer child windows.

3. Save child windows as separate files (File:Save Window As), delete
them from the large project, and then re-open them as needed (File:
Open).

4. Save the large project with many child windows with the child windows
open and in cascaded order (Window:Cascade) or with the child windows
minimized.

5. Limit the number of text labels, especially those with multiple fonts.

You next wrote:

>but it crashes even more often than the 4.1 one
>As an example of new problems I cannot open some of my old projects,
>created by Origin 4.1. Origin 5.0 crashes immediately with no reason.

In response:

We have had a few users complain of problems with opening old Origin
files and that it causes Origin to crash for no logical reason. The
Origin 5.0 Patch seems to have corrected this problem. If you are
interested in obtaining the files prior to the Patch's release, let
me know (since the Patch has not yet been released). You can email
me at tech@microcal.com and put ATTN: Ryan in the subject. Please
explain your situation again in the email to refresh my memory. If
you do decide to take this route you need to remember that when the
actual patch does become available you will either need to reinstall
Origin 5.0 to apply it or have save all the files you replace to a
backup folder.

Your next concern was:

>or by some reason it does not like font Times for Y axis and places
>weird looking box instead of text

In response:

I have tried this one and was unable to reproduce it. I would need
more details including a step by step explanation to reproduce such
a problem. This could also be included in an email.

Your next concern had to do with an Origin 4.1 problem:

>e.g., Origin 4.1 cannot deal with paths longer than about 20
>characters, and ALWAYS crashes if the path is longer than that

In response:

Origin 5.0 addresses this issue. I have not experienced any crashes
opening files with long path or filenames with Origin 5.0.

I hope that this has addressed all of your concerns. If you feel that
you need to speak with us directly about your problems feel free to
call, email, or fax us your inquiry. Please try and provide us with
your serial number so that we can make the support process run smoothly.
If you are an unregistered user you will need to register with us. You
can do so by filling out the registration card on the inside of the
User's Manual, or by registering with us online. Once you have done so
we will be glad to assist you in any way we can.

Sincerely,

Ryan Toomey
Technical Services

Dear Ryan,

I greatly appreciate your fast and detailed response and will try all
your suggestions.

Thank you very much indeed,