I’ve been involved a little bit with the Avogadro project. Avogadro is a cross-platform 3D molecular editor. It’s written in C++/Qt4 for people who care and sports a new Python console for people like me who want to have our cake and it it too. Here are the things I like about it:
- cross-platform – my lab has both Linux and OS X machines. Being able to use the same application on all of them is a big plus
- auto-optimization – you can turn on an autooptimizer that does does geometry optimizations on the fly as you move atoms around. Not only does this look awesome, it’s also a great teaching tool.
- Gaussian input – we have an undergrad this summer in our lab and he’s working on some MO calculations using Gaussian. The Avogadro Gaussian input tool was really easy to having start using and he didn’t have to spend time figuring out all the syntax/options.
For a project this young, it’s really coming along nicely.
LaserJock 