[Eeglablist] memory limitations with different versions of Mac and Windows OS

[Jeff Eriksen]

I am planning to begin using Matlab and EEGLab on a fairly new (2008 June)
MacBook, and would like some to know what memory limitations people have
experienced on Mac and Windows platforms. I am aiming to have the largest
possible amount of usable RAM for applications, and have the option of using
the Mac OS, or a version of Windows (via Bootcamp). This laptop has 4 GB of
RAM installed now, and I think that is its maximum possible based on the
design of its hardware. I have these versions of Windows available to me to
use: WinXP Pro 32-bit, Vista Ultimate 32-bit and 64-bit. (I know there is a
64-bit version of XP but that would be an extra cost at this point). Matlab
version is 2008a.

 

What I have heard so far is that Matlab on the Mac OS is limited in some
ways compared to its Windows counterpart. I see on the Mathworks site that
it is actually 32-bit - the 64-bit version will come out maybe with Matlab v
2009a. But this does not tell me if the 32-bit version can address all 4 GB
of my MacBook RAM and have structures bigger than 2 GB.

 

On the Windows side I would also like to find out how the three OS versions
above interact with Matlab, both 32 and 64-bit versions, in terms of memory
limitations. The obvious choice is just to go with 64-bit Vista, but the OS
itself may take up so much RAM as to negate any advantage it might have had
over the 32-bit version in terms of "seeing" a large contiguous memory
space, which also depends on the version of Matlab I suppose (32 or 64-bit).
With 8, 16, or more GB of RAM 64-bit Vista may be a clear choice, but
perhaps not with "only" 4 GB.

 

No one will have all the answers, but if you have experience with any of the
combinations I mention, especially with regards to EEGLab, please let me
know off-list. I do not have time to consider UNIX/Linux and its learning
curve and support, so do not bother to bring that up.

 

Thanks,

-Jeff Eriksen

OHSU School of Medicine, BME Division

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