I think the new PIC32 boards look quite nice, and are a good addition =20 to the PIC32 development portfolio. I want one! > What is the attraction, the IDE, the modular components, ease of =20 > development, common platform for the masses? I've been pretty active in the Arduino community. In theory the =20 attraction is "overall ease of use", especially for people who really =20 don't give a damn about "evaluating the AVR." In reality, I think =20 that has become much more about the supportive community that =20 surrounds it. Basic Stamp (based on PIC) and Basic52 served very similar markets. =20 There are probably dozens of eval boards and/or user projects that =20 COULD serve the same market, if they could only get an instant crowd =20 of a thousand vocal and helpful artists to start touting how wonderful =20 they were. Manufacturers and Vendors who expect to gain the same popularity by =20 selling a cheaper eval board (TI Launchpad), or a board with the same =20 form factor (FTDI "vinculino"), or a board with similar but superior =20 capabilities (Freescale "Tower" system) just aren't getting it. The =20 Uno32 looks to be one of the better efforts; we'll have to see. I also think people underestimate the importance of the fact that a =20 $30 Arduino board apparently supports two tiers of profitable =20 distribution. Extra support comes with that, almost magically. You =20 can buy Arduinos in VENDING MACHINES in some places. TI can SELL a =20 launchpad for $5, but waiting a couple months for one to arrive isn't =20 at all the same thing. The Uno32 will probably sell for a similar $40 =20 price ($26.95!), but only via microchip distributors and digilent =20 themselves (and probably subsidized by Microchip.) I *like* =20 subsidized development boards, and it's good for the development =20 community, but I think it makes an Arduino-like phenomenon impossible. BillW --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .