Improvements from Guide 4 to Guide 5
Guide 5.0 has been shipping since September 1996. It includes a long
list of improvements over Guide 4; the most significant is that Guide 5
has both Windows and DOS software. The Windows software runs under
Windows 3.1, Windows 95, and Windows NT.
The move to Windows has brought several benefits. Windows provides much
better printer and video support than is available in DOS, and many parts
of the user interface are simpler to follow in Windows. Both DOS and
Windows software are provided on the same Guide 5.0 CD-ROM. The following
list of improvements applies to both versions of the software.
Updated asteroid data. There are now 7,212 numbered asteroids, out
of a total of over 30,000 asteroids. (About 10,000 of the asteroids are
probably "lost", which is why the ads claim only 20,000 asteroids.)
The asteroids can be labelled by number, preliminary designation, or name,
and more data is now provided for them (including an indication of the
precision of the orbit.)
Improved comet handling: One can simply specify that comets
down to a given limiting magnitude be shown, just as one does with asteroids,
galaxies, or any other type of object. The user interface for adding a
comet is much less complex now, and can be accessed from within Guide (no
need to run a separate utility). In general, trying to add a new comet
(or asteroid) has not been for the faint of heart; but with Guide
5.0, it is a very straightforward process.
The eight largest moons of Saturn have been added.
A 'Quick Info' feature provides such data as a list of all planet
positions, currently bright comets and asteroids, times of lunar phases,
apogee and perigee times, twilight times, local and Greenwich sidereal
times, and times of equinoxes and solstices.
The NGC databases have been replace using the Saguaro Astronomical
Catalog (SAC 6.0), which eliminates most of the problems seen in older
NGC databases used in Guide 4.0. It also provides some descriptive
data not available in other catalogs.
Most of the databases have been supplemented or improved; for example,
the HDE (Henry Draper Extension) and the 90,000 star supplement
to the PPM (Position and Proper Motion) catalog have been added,
the four DM catalogs have been added, and so on.
A lot of small improvements have been made; you can show a Telrad
sight, set the colors of the horizon, ecliptic, and other measurement markings;
get a list of Jovian satellite events; label stars by magnitude down to
a desired limit (something variable star observers have wanted for a long
time); a hotkey to find the point opposite the Sun; selenographic data
for lunar observers and central meridian data for Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn;
plus assorted others suggested by Guide 4.0 users.
Recent improvements
The above list applies to the software on the CD-ROM itself. Improvements
to Guide are fairly continuous, and slightly more
recent software can be downloaded from this site.