Anyone with LabVIEW Experience?

[Eleanor]

We have a bona fide copy of LabVIEW software which we have never used. We were originally going to use it to monitor the outputs from analytical instruments but I left the company and it sort of went with me 
We have had it in the back of our minds for a long time that it would be useful for monitoring and controlling a domestic renewable energy set up (we just didn't have one to monitor).
It is version 5.1.1 and compatible with Windows 98 

I'm feeling old now as it seems only yesterday 

I've had a look at the National Instruments site and found that we could upgrade to the latest version for £529 (as opposed to £999 to buy the software outright).

The options seem to be :

i) pay the £529 to upgrade (Windows or Linux  )
ii) try running on Windows 98 

iii) bin it 

Any comments/suggestions gratefully received 

[breezy]

I've only ever "played" with Labview, but it seems to me that Microsoft had (finally) managed to make '98 very stable before they pulled the plug.

What disadvantage do you see with running on '98?

[Eleanor]

Hi Breezy, thanks for the reply. I don't think I have a particular problem with Windows 98. In fact I think we have a couple of redundant PCs/laptops with it already installed so it would be the easiest and cheapest route to take. Best to just give it a go and see how well it works and upgrade if we find we need a more recent version of software for some reason.

Thanks, that's the plan (for now!) 

[daftlad]

Eleanor
I have an old laser printer that only runs on win 98 so the old scrapper gets fired up once in a blue moon to print out that pdf on masonry stoves or whatever.
it actually works better than the normal computer sometimes because it isn't clarted up with downloaded tripe.
so fire up that old computer, you will wonder why you spent all that money on the new one?
to repeat what i said in another post "i don't really know what i an talking about"
laters

[Eleanor]

Thanks Daftlad. It seems a lot clearer now after discussing it. Nothing to be lost in trying it out. I'm sure you know what you're on about really! 

[PEMTEK]

I have access to labview 7 which is a great program. I have only used it for fairly basic display purposes from ADC cards and decoding serial data for display but it makes a nice looking interface so easy to acheive. Alot of the decent test equipment manufacturers also supply a file to allow it to interface with them.

[The Crofter]

I used it for a few control & data logging projects, so much easier than C. Went on a couple of courses at their head office in ?? (can't remember the place!). Very good and recommended to get you up and running quickly.

There have been notable improvements over the years and if you can afford it I would suggest upgrading. This will also give you the latest libraries and a lot of the NI hardware is almost plug and play with very little user input. You can of course change any of the supplied examples but they are great building blocks.

[Eleanor]

Thanks both for your help and support. I seem to remember being very impressed with it when I ordered it. I think we'll try some simple measurements with '98 and if we feel it's the right package, and worth the investment, upgrade to the latest version at some point