We work hard to keep the Windows and Mac versions of Prism very similar. You can switch back and forth between platforms easily, and files created on one platform can be opened on the other. But there are a few differences.
Features in Windows but not Mac:
•Object linking and embedding. This means you can paste a Prism graph into another program and double-click to edit in Prism. We wish we could allow this to work on Prism Mac, but Apple and Microsoft simply do not provide the "hooks" Prism would need.
•Excel linking and embedding. This means you can paste Excel data into Prism, and double click to edit within Excel. We also wish this were possible with the Mac.
•Import and export EMF and WMF images. These formats are only used on Windows computers.
•Send to Word with a single click.
•One click to post a graph or layout on a web site.
•High contrast printing, with no grays and no colors (choice on Preferences dialog).
•Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) commands to launch Prism and start a script.
•Find Prism files using Google Desktop Search.
•Export in the older PCX format.
Features in Mac but not Windows:
•Automatic saving. Prism Mac uses the OS X features Resume and Versions, which may seem strange at first.
•Spell checking of text anywhere in the project
•Quick Look lets you preview graphs within Finder.
•Color eyedropper. While setting any color, click the magnifying glass tool, then click on any color on any window to select that color.
•Use an Automator action to launch Prism and run a Prism Script;
•Choice of color model ( RGB, CMYK, or Grayscale) when exporting in JPEG format.
File compatibility
Files saved on one platform can be opened on the other. In almost all respects, this just works and you don't have to think about it. But there are two exceptions:
•If you use Prism Mac and copy a graph from one project and paste it onto a layout on another project, Prism can handle this in two ways. By default it pastes in a form that works only with Prism Mac. If you open the project in Windows, that graph will be missing from the layout. Use an option in the Files tab of Prism Preferences to save in a compatible format. On the Mac, you will notice that the files will be larger and pasting graphs from other projects noticeably slower (but still only a few seconds). Now the file will open fine in Windows.
•Tabs within titles or text objects are handled differently on Windows and Mac. If you include tabs within text objects, the spacing of that text may change a lot when you open it on the other platform.
