It might be a bit late to ask, but out of curiosity, what kind of tools are you using nowadays to replace calculators? I prefer free and open source ones, so I have a shortcut to open a terminal with GNU Octave (or python if not installed).
I use xcas when I need CAS, but the interface is a bit unwieldy.
I don't want another physical calculator but thanks for pointing me to Xcas. I haven't heard of it before, I must give it a go.
I've been using Mathematica for most of my computer algebra tasks, but it's not free. I've dabbled with Maxima and SymPy but neither are as easy to use or as powerful as Mathematica.
To be frank, I do the same with the GNU Octave CLI, which is IMO much more suited to evaluating mathematical expressions, and very short programs. Out-of the box, that is.
The right answer is probably to use the right tool for the job, be it xcas, octave or python. Microsoft's calculator is probably better suited for unit conversion, for instance, although units(1) would be a contender :)
It’s a nice little device but it falls a bit short in one key area: it lacks a CAS (Computer Algebra System) for symbolic calculations.
That functionality was available in an earlier release of the software (Epsilon) but it was at best rather rudimentary.
I’ve flashed Omega (a fork of Epsilon that preserves the rudimentary symbolic capabilities of earlier Epsilon) which also allows running third-party apps (including Xcas). You can check it out here: https://getomega.dev
I’m a strong believer in calculators and I understand the restriction on CAS systems in order to facilitate assessment in exam environments, but almost all calculators (including NumWorks) have Exam Mode settings anyway so… I don’t really see why not. It’s a critically important tool.
I didn’t even know there’s a calculator app on macOS. I simply write formulas into Spotlight, and if I need history or variables or anything serious I launch an Octave prompt.
Since this is a calculator topic, I'd like request your input on which calculators you use.
I use the Emacs calculator (M-x calc) and XCalc (http://www.tordivel.no/xcalc/) as I like to use RPN calculators. The Windows 10 calculator is painful and slow. XCalc has a mini mode, where it will sit as a small, single line without distracting you too much. I like that feature very much.
One thing with Emacs is that I forget the shortcuts for non-frequent calculations that I'd have to go and search for it.
I particularly like calc mode. Top notch programmable rpn calculator with basic CAS support. Good for most algebraic transformations plus derivatives and integrals. It also supports graphing!
Also you missed that you can run WebKit inside of emacs. Also you embed X apps in emacs and use it as a window manager.
That's sounds like an awesome add on idea to my present calculator idea, but just a quick question, would you like it to be like Mathematica or totally GUI based ? I think that GUI's rock but as personally, as a student, I've not used such calculators much, I'm not sure if other people would like it better if it's Command line interface ?
I don't, I occasionally use my phone but it usually takes too long to get it out, figure out where the calculator app is, rotate to go to scientific...
Mostly I use bc or python. Julia is potentially a better choice but it's not in my muscle memory.
I tend to use either a command-line calculator (to minimise context switching, for simple calculations) or a physical TI calculator for simple matrix calculations, CAS features such as analytical derivatives simple integration, and dimension analysis (which is vital in my corner of Physics and very rarely done properly in software calculators).
I use xcas when I need CAS, but the interface is a bit unwieldy.
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