Absoft Pro Fortran Sales FAQ's

Sales (FAQ) Frequently Asked Questions

Orders
Purchasing
Current Products

Licensing
Upgrades
Maintenance

Resellers
Compatibility
Performance

Windows
Mac OS X
Linux

Orders

How do I find out the status of my order?
Your order is as important to us as it is to you. You can email sales@absoft.com or call 248-853-0050 to inquire about order status.

Information that will help track your order includes:
- The approximate date your order was placed
- The name of the ordering organization
- The name and email id of the end user
- An invoice or purchase order number
- The product(s) ordered

Purchasing

How do I purchase or upgrade to the latest release?
From the Absoft home page, select the product family of interest and then select the item. The 'Buy Now' section on the right hand side of the page will take you to an order form.
Can I purchase copies of previous releases?
Absoft maintains a limited inventory of previous releases back to v6.0. These are available at standard product pricing and can be ordered by contacting Absoft sales.
Are there discounts when I buy compilers for multiple machines?
Multiple licenses for single or multiple machines ordered on a single purchase order for single end customers may be eligible for volume discounts. Please contact Absoft sales for details on how it would apply to your situation.
How do I qualify as an academic customer?
There are two different ways to qualify as an academic customer:
(a) your order must come from an accredited, degree-granting, educational institution, or
(b) the person ordering must be a full-time student or hold a valid ID card from an accredited, degree-granting, educational institution.
Where are Authorized Absoft resellers in my country?
You can purchase directly from Absoft or through one of our resellers in 27 different countries. Please visit our reseller's page to determine the reseller closest to you.

Current Products

What are the current or latest product versions available from Absoft?
Please visit our platform pages which list all current products:
- Windows
- Mac OS
- Linux
What new features are in the latest versions?
New features vary by product so please select the main product page of the item you are interested in and follow the 'What's New' link which is located under 'Product Information' in the table of contents on that product page.
Are previous versions still available for purchase?
Previous versions of Absoft products are available for purchase at standard product pricing. An inventory of most Absoft Fortran compiler releases back to v6.0 is maintained for customers who require previous versions for compatibility reasons. This table summarizes previous versions. Please contact sales@absoft.com or call 248-853-0050 for availability and pricing. Maintenance downloads for previous versions are available.
What is different between the academic and commercial product versions?
The software included with academic and commercial versions is identical but the prices are different. Some academic distributions do not include media or printed User Guides.
Can I review the documentation before I buy?
Yes. Documentation for Absoft products is available online.
Can I get a free demo, trial version or evaluation license for testing?
Free trial versions of most Absoft products are available by completing this form.
Will the same compiler work on Windows, Mac OS and Linux?
Because Windows, Mac OS and Linux are different operating systems, a different compiler designed for each OS is required. Absoft hides the differences 'under the hood' and all of our compilers have the same look and feel, and are source-compatible across all OS's, so from a programming point of view, there is only one learning curve, regardless of operating system(s) you use. To simplify development on multiple platforms Absoft offers the MaxFlex license option which can dynamically switch between Windows, Mac OS and Linux licenses as required.
What are HPC SDKs?
HPC SDK stands for High Performance Computing Software Development Kit and is a kit containing a complete set of pre-configured software development tools for compiling, running, debugging, and optimizing Fortran and C/C++ applications for HPC clusters and grids. Because clusters and grids often utilize software from several different sources, configuring software tools to work together can be a time consuming task. The HPC SDK typically saves several weeks of configuration and testing. Absoft has worked closely with Apple, IBM, Intel, Pathscale and others to create pre-configured SDKs which include 'best of breed tools' for the different cluster architectures.

Licensing

What types of licensing options are there?
Absoft offers a variety of license options including, single user and floating licenses and MaxFlex licenses (dynamically switch between Windows, OS X and Linux).
Free Personal Use License - what is it and how do I get one?
Personal Use licenses are included at no additional charge on single user, single seat, Absoft branded products. This allows the registered user to install the software license(s) on a personal home machine as well as an office machine as long as the registered user is the only user and the two machines are not being used at the same time.
What are the standard Absoft end-user license agreement (EULA) terms?
Complete license agreements are available for review.

Upgrades and Maintenance

What is the difference between an upgrade and continuing maintenance?
Upgrades provide a path of changing from an older release to the current release. Support is provided at no additional charge for all current releases. After a new release is announced customers have the option of purchasing an upgrade to the latest release, typically at a much lower price than purchasing a new license. Upgrades are best for customers with outdated releases who want to become current or do not require maintenance over long periods of time.
Continuing maintenance provides free product service packs, updates, and technical support over a 12-month period for a specific product and includes all upgrades that become available during that period. Continuing maintenance is best for customers budgeting multi-year software expenditures or who want to be assured of uninterrupted maintenance.
What about maintenance for 3rd party products?
Absoft provides maintenance and Level 1/Level 2 technical support for the Third Party Products it sells. Absoft refers Level 3 technical support issues (i.e. program errors) on to the Third Party Product vendor.

Resellers

How do I become an Absoft Reseller?
Becoming an Absoft Reseller is an easy, straightforward process. Simple steps for qualifying as and becoming an Absoft Reseller are fully documented online.

Compatibility

Will my existing IMSL Fortran Numerical Library work with a newer compiler?
IMSL uses the runtime libraries that come with the Fortran compiler used to build IMSL. This means each build of IMSL is compiler-specific. In some cases changes in compiler versions result in differences which make an older version of IMSL incompatible with newer compiler versions. Please contact Absoft sales regarding your specific situation.
Which Absoft compilers are compatible with STAR-CD?
STAR-CD compatibility varies by platform - a complete STAR-CD version compatibility chart is available.
Can I easily mix Fortran and C/C++ code with Absoft compilers?
Yes. Mixed Fortran and C/C++ development is supported by Absoft compilers for Windows, Mac OS and Linux platforms. The Absoft Fx2 debugger supports mixed Fortran/C/C++/assembly debugging and is included with most Absoft Fortran compilers at no additional charge. Absoft Pro Fortran for Windows and Mac OS includes an IDE that supports mixed Fortran/C/C++ code development with a single set of tools. Documentation for your desired product will show examples of writing mixed Fortran and C code.
Are additional math libraries, visualization tools and other packages available?
Yes, many different vendors, which offer solutions for graphics, visualization, GUI builders, math libraries, programming tools and IDEs offer Absoft compatible products. Please visit our ISV and Fortran Resources page for additional information.
How do I build MPICH2 with an Absoft compiler?
We have complete online instructions for building MPICH2 with Absoft compilers.

Performance

How does Absoft performance compare to other compilers?
According to benchmark suites run by independent third parties, the latest Absoft Fortran compiler is the industry's top performer on x64 processors (both AMD Opteron and Intel-Xeon) running Linux. The latest Absoft Fortran compilers for 64-bit Windows and Mac OS on Intel processors share the same code base and will offer similar performance when available. Performance can vary by processor, OS, and application.

Windows

Does Absoft have products for 64-bit Windows and/or Windows CCS?
Yes - complete details on the new top-performing Absoft Fortran compilers for 64-bit Windows XP and Windows CCS 2003 are available.
Are different compilers required for developing on both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows?
Yes. The compilers currently offered by Absoft for Windows are optimized separately for 32-bit and 64-bit code generation. Also, 32-bit and 64-bit applications are not link-compatible (although they are source-compatible between Absoft compilers). If you want to develop native applications for both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows copies of both our 32-bit and 64-bit compilers would be needed. Special bundle pricing is offered so please refer to Absoft Fortran for 64-bit Windows and Absoft Pro Fortran for 32-bit Windows for these offers.
Are the compilers for 32-bit Windows and 64-bit Windows source compatible?
Yes. Porting code between the 32-bit and 64-bit Windows with Absoft compilers typically requires little more than a recompile. This applies when porting not only between 32-bit and 64-bit Windows but when porting between Windows, Mac OS and Linux as well.

Mac OS X

Will Absoft Pro Fortran products for OS X / PPC continue to be supported?
Yes, as long as there is reasonable demand or interest in the products.
Can one license work on both G4/G5 and Intel OS X computers?
Unfortunately not. The compiler builds, ABI, etc. for Mac OS on G4/G5 and Intel processors are quite different and totally separate products. From a user point of view, we are endeavoring to keep many of these differences under the hood so there is only a single learning curve no matter what platform you are on.Customers interested in developing applications on both Mac OS /PowerPC and Mac OS/Intel can receive special bundle pricing by contacting Absoft sales.
Can I generate universal binaries for OS X?
Yes. Universal binaries for Mac OS are binaries for Mac OS on PPC processors and Mac OS on Intel processors, combined into one single build. Absoft offers compilers that can generate both versions of these binaries. Apple's lipo tool is very useful for packaging Universal binaries.

Are the v9 and the new v10 of Absoft Fortran for Linux source-compatible?
Yes. Porting code between v9 and v10 Absoft compilers typically requires little more than a recompile. Absoft Fortran compilers are source-compatible when porting between 32-bit and 64-bit Linux and also when porting between Linux, Mac OS and Windows as well.
Are the v9 and the new v10 of Absoft Fortran for Linux binary compatible?
Due to the addition of new optimizations and advanced code generation technologies in v10, applications built with v9 will need to be recompiled.
Are there any runtime fees associated with applications generated using Absoft compilers?
Absoft customers who complete and return the Absoft No Fee Runtime Redistribution Agreement can redistribute applications they create with Absoft compilers with no runtime fees.