Have used ACCEL on a demo version only (Everything worked except the output).
The GUI is intuitive and user friendly. Capture program is decent also.

We currently are licensed with ORCAD but are maintaining and running mostly PADS
(PADS is an excellent program, woud'nt trade for the world). We will be making
the transition to
ORCAD 100% this year and keeping PADS to sustain the existing designs.

Why you ask?  I have no idea. One day our supervisor announced we were
transistioning
over to ORCAD and that was that. No reasons given. No explanations other than
the company
had invested in the software. What is ironic is that our division never got the
opportunity to
explore the program. We could've voiced our opinions and could've have avoided
this
crappy software altogether. This software is "not as good" as some
people(vendors) have
made it out to be. Frankly we got suckered in to a shotty product. Oh well, at
least "YOU" still
have the opportunity to voice your opinion and help determine what software you
will invest in.

My opinion when it comes to ORCAD is that it is cumbersome for most functions
and
not user friendly at all. The most basic functions (zooming, paning, queries
etc.....) should be placed
at the mouse button level. There are too many things about ORCAD that bug me and
the list might get
too long. The best way to find out about any program is try it first then buy
it. Most vendors will let you
have a go at it to see how you like. ORCAD has a long way to go to really say
they can compete
with the big boys as far as efficiency goes(PADS PowerPCB etc
etc........Allegro....)


Ezequiel Cruz
Sr. PCB Designer
ANTEC Network Actives

################################################################
DesignerCouncil E-Mail Forum provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8c
################################################################
To subscribe/unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the body:
To subscribe:   SUBSCRIBE DesignerCouncil <your full name>
To unsubscribe:   SIGNOFF DesignerCouncil 
################################################################
Please visit IPC's web site (http://www.ipc.org) "On-Line Services" section for additional information.
For technical support contact Hugo Scaramuzza at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.312
################################################################