Thanks to all for the kind comments!

I'm occasionally asked about Guide vs. (insert other astronomy software
here). I mumble at this point for several reasons. First, it's sometimes
apples vs. oranges. You can see that in the replies on this thread, with
some people looking at the large databases available with Guide, or the
planetary or asteroid support, or the ability to add your own data.

I suspect a similar thread could occur with any other astronomy software,
wherein people point out nice appearance, or better user interface, or
CCD control or observation planning (which are things Guide doesn't do at
all), and so forth. To some degree, it's like asking: "Which is better,
a violin, a piano, or a saxophone?" Depending on what you're trying to
do, and what your personal preferences are, it could be any of these.

I _do_ borrow/steal ideas from other software from time to time. The
red/green/yellow color scheme used in tables to indicate "below horizon",
"near horizon", and "well above horizon" came from the program C88.
I've borrowed a bit from Chris Marriott's SkyMap Pro and some ideas from
Cartes du Ciel, Starry Night, and TheSky. (And every now and then see
that an idea from Guide has made its way into somebody else's program...
perhaps just "great minds thinking alike", but I like to think they got
something useful from seeing what I did.)

Which causes me to ask something I probably should have asked long ago:
what feature(s) of other programs do you look at and think: "I wish
Guide had that"?

-- Bill