Hit: Winnebago vs. Spectrum

[tpelusi <tpelusi@HOME.COM>]

A hit was requested concerning my question as follows:

My principal has also suggested we switch from Winnebago to Spectrum on
our existing PC's. We are a parochial school whose administration is very
resistant to moving forward to networked Internet access or even networked
classrooms.  Right now, Winnebago is adequate to our needs and with a
limited budget, I feel that perhaps the money should be spent elsewhere,
on materials for instance.  Any suggestions?

The consensus appears to be stay with what works especially if you are not
upgrading hardware.
I have no answer to the original post concerning Spectrum and Mac's. Any MAC
users out there?
Teresa Pelusi, Librarian K-8
Our Lady of Mount Carmel School
Doylestown, PA 18901
tpelusi@home.com



         Unless your "existing PC's" are very new, Spectrum will most
likely not run on them.  Spectrum requires a tremendous amount of memory,
and a very fast processor speed.  When we did our upgrade in the spring,
even though we had pretty adequate machines, we wound up having to replace
them with 8 new cpu's.  I would check out the spec requirements very
carefully, before planning to install it on older machines.  On the plus
side, having done the upgrade, we really love the new program and its new
capabilities.  The upgrade, and the new machines it pushed us into buying,
have been a boon to our LC.  Good luck whichever way it goes,


With limited budgets, I think the natural inclination is to spend the funds
on materials.  But, that could be a shortsighted decision if it Winnebago
does not support the DOS program, which I understood would eventually be
phased out in favor of Spectrum.  Do you know for how long they will offer
customer support for the program you are currently using?  If they will
offer support indefinitely, and if the program meets your needs, you could
probably get by without switching.  Spectrum has come a long way from its
first version, and personally speaking, I find it a more user friendly
system than the old Winnebago.  Just interested...why does your principal
propose the switch?



we are a catholic school of 900 high school students.  I used Winnebago
Cir/Cat for 3 or 4 years.  Then they got the idea I needed Spectrum.  I have
to be honest I like Cir/cat much better--easier to use.  Be sure and  get a
good demonstration before you use it.Cir/Cat was easier to use from my
standpoint.--Easier to process books, easier to  do overdue notices and we
also used it to circulate and administer our textbook program--approx.
12,000 textbooks.  This has become much harder.



You may wish to post a HIT of the responses.  Many of us are Macintosh
schools who have been very happy with Winnebago but, since the program
will no longer be enhanced or improved by Sagebrush,may eventually have to
go with Spectrum .  I have read that Spectrum would often "freeze" Mac
computers but that the newest version is supposed to rectify this problem.


Stick with the DOS version of Winnebago.  I switched to Spectrum to
keep up with win95.  Our district has the funds to provide me with faster
and better computers to run it.  If you have an older computer, you won't be
able to run Spectrum to its max.  My circulation computer, which is what I
ran odues, reports, etc. on was a 486/66 when I first switched to Spectrum
last April.  We couldn't get the full range of options on that computer.
When we went in on a Pentium III, we noticed printing options that didn't
show up on the 486.

I loved that DOS version of Winnebago.  It is so tight.  They have
everything figured out on that version.  I really miss it.  In your
circumstances, I wouldn't change.

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