I really meant this to be a 1:1 reply but since it turned up everywhere,
I will explain my aversion to Optimas....We are just starting to use the
program, or trying to.  As I am really busy myself (& the least computer
iterate person using the confocal), I asked my undergrad student (who is
somewhat computer literate) and my tech (similarly computer literate) to
try to work out a few simple morphometry protocols (lengths, areas,
etc.).  They've had a lot of problems, possibly due to the
documentation.  Another colleague in the dept. also has an Optimas
program which is not used with CLSM.  They were not able to give us a
hand based on their own experience & I'm not sure whether that is because
of the way our data is handled on the BioRad 600 or not....I assume we'll
have better luck when we get a block of time to devote to the problem,
but I was unpleasantly surprised to find it wasn't quite as quick to
learn as I'd hoped.      On the plus side, Optimas gives workshops, if
you have plenty of $$$.
 
 
 
 
On Wed, 22 Mar 1995, Feona Hansen-Smith wrote:
 
> If you mean REALLY user--friendly (ie, for computer illiterates such as
> myself....) stay away from Optimas.  It was demo'd to us to look really
> easy, but we're finding the low price does not really give user-friendly
> application.  However, I've been told that it is actually very versatile
> software if you know how to use it.....
>