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Lebanon, NH, January 10, 2006 -
isee
systems, the world leader in Systems Thinking software, announced version
9 releases of STELLA® and iThink®. Major feature additions
include dynamic links to Microsoft® Excel
and presenting models as Causal Loop Diagrams. Current and new users will
also appreciate usability and productivity enhancements that make the
software even easier to use.
Dynamic links with Microsoft
Excel, provide constant access to data that
reside in worksheets or other applications that can use Excel as a bridge
to
iThink and STELLA. Causal
Loop Diagrams are widely used in system dynamics to simplify model
explanation by focusing on dominant feedback loops or selected causal
connections. Unlike typical Causal Loop Diagrams, those in Version 9
retain underlying model elements (stocks and flows) so that the diagrams
can be used to create or modify models.
Version 9 development
included a very productive beta test period. “We’ve gotten great help and
feedback from beta testers. In fact, Version 9 models are already being
used for real work,” explained
Joanne Egner, Managing Director of
isee systems.
Apogee Informatics is using
iThink 9.0 in its health
care consulting practice. “Using the latest beta version, we’ve created a
persistent link between Microsoft Excel data and
iThink so that our models
always use the most current information. It’s been especially helpful with
our emergency room model which looks for predictability in a very complex,
rapidly changing system,” reported Apogee President Dr. David Klubert.
John Morecroft
, Adjunct
Associate Professor of Decision Science at
London
Business
School
tested Version 9’s Causal
Loop Diagram capabilities. “Feedback loops — causes and effects —
show you why a business or
social system isn’t performing. They are very hard to see outside of a
diagram. Version 9’s hybrid approach to Causal Loop Diagrams; where the
story or diagram of a system is related to the system’s model, is
extremely useful. Users can move from a model to a diagram and back again
as they learn and build their model.”
Other new Version 9 features
include:
Models saved for use with
earlier versions — Version 9 models can be
saved as Version 7 models making it easier to share work and results with
other users
Expanded
image format options (for creating and importing image files) —
Image files can be created or imported in the following formats: PICT
(*.PCT), GIF (*.GIF), Bitmap (*.BMP), TIFF (*.TIF), Jpeg (*.JPG), or PNG
(*.PNG).
Additional built-in
functions — A new Statistical function
(LOGNORMAL) and five new Array functions (ARRAYMIN, ARRAYMAX, ARRAYMINIDX,
ARRAYMAX_IDX, and ARRAYVALUE) have been added to the list of available
built-in functions.
Drag
and drop capabilities —
New drag and drop capabilities simplify graph and table creation/updates
and the addition of pictures to model presentations.
User interface improvements —
The user interface has been
updated and reorganized to make STELLA and iThink even easier to use.
Changes include updated toolbar icons, tabbed access to model layers,
larger, repositionable dialog boxes, and right-click
menus.
About isee
systems (www.iseesystems.com) — isee
(formerly High Performance Systems) is the world leader in Systems
Thinking software. Founded in 1985, isee developed STELLA®, the first
software to bring Systems Thinking to the desktop. In addition to STELLA
which is used primarily by educators and researchers, isee offers iThink® for business
simulation. isee is a privately-held company with
substantial global reach in business, education, and government
markets.
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