Mathematica 7 Released -- Version Integrates Over 500 New Functions, 12 New Application Areas

Wolfram Research is rolling out Mathematica 7, a major release that accelerates the drive to integrate and automate functionality as core Mathematica capabilities, adding image processing, parallel high-performance computing (HPC), new on-demand curated data, and other recently developed computational innovations--in total over 500 new functions and 12 application areas. "Mathematica 7 is a remarkable achievement, coming so quickly after Mathematica 6, and successfully integrating so many new areas," said Stephen Wolfram, president and CEO of Wolfram Research, in a press release.

"Throughout the history of Mathematica, we've followed the principle of deep integration--of building everything into the core system, and carefully designing it to fit together. With every version of Mathematica, we're seeing more and more payoff from this approach. It seems as if deep integration is letting our R&D teams use Mathematica to achieve an almost exponential development trajectory for the product," he added.

"Mathematica 7 drives functionality integration. Whether it's parallel computing, image analysis, or visual solving, the principle is the same: include it in the core product and add automation both for performance and productivity," added Roger Germundsson, director of research and development at Wolfram Research, in the release.

Image processing is one key integrated addition. Industrial-strength, high-performance functions for image composition, transformation, enhancement, and segmentation combine with the existing Mathematica infrastructure of high-level language, automated interface construction, interactive notebook documents, and computational power to create a uniquely versatile image processing solution. "The image processing environment of Mathematica 7 has been designed from the ground up to become the system of choice for imaging research and applications in science, engineering, medicine, and education," stated Peter Overmann, director of Software Technology at Wolfram, in the release. "This is only the start of our image processing initiative. Allied to Mathematica's other functionality, it's already very powerful. We have a modern foundation, and we will continue to build on it," he said.