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I'm looking for a software to write mathematical equations in, that isn't LaTeX. There's no need to be able to write print them or make images of them, it's mainly for my own personal use. If there's a tool where it's possible to evaluate them also that would be even sweeter.

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    Since the standard is LaTeX, why are you refusing to use the standard?
    – S.Lott
    Oct 29, 2009 at 20:40
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    It sounds like what you really want is the ability to do mathematical equation solving using a symbolic mathematics package. You might want to rephrase the question to talk about what you do want rather than what you don't want.
    – jprete
    Oct 29, 2009 at 20:45
  • jprete: no that's not what I'm after, however it would be a bonus if it was possible. I want exactly what I asked for, what's up with all the 2nd guessing on SO lately?
    – thr
    Oct 29, 2009 at 20:52
  • So you tagged this with latex because you don't want LaTeX. Outstanding logic.
    – Mica
    Oct 30, 2009 at 0:10
  • @Mica: Honestly I don't see the illogic of it, maybe at first glance sure it might seem odd but on second thought it seems alright, sort of like "yes I know LaTeX exists but this is not what I'm after".
    – thr
    Oct 30, 2009 at 8:26

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Mathematica allows to write mathematical equations in a semi wysiwyg interface, and of course provides extensive mathematical solving capabilities. It also provides some compatibility with LaTeX. It's not free, but there is a reasonably priced version for non-commercial home use, and even cheaper student versions.

If you're willing to consider LaTeX, LyX provides a user-friendly interface for creating your documents. But IMHO, it's only a gateway to learn "proper" LaTeX syntax... sooner or later, you'll get fed up of using the mouse and will want to type equations much faster.

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Maple? That will allow you to evaluate them. EDIT: Credit to Kena for mentioning Mathematica; probably your best shot, but I'm sure Maple will do it too from what I remember of it.

Matlab can do a lot of evaluation work of mathematical equations, although I don't know if it can really sub in for a proper symbolic mathematics package.

MS Word's Equation Editor? That will allow you to write them out, at least for your own use. (And of course you can print them.) But you won't be able to evaluate them.

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  • +1 for Maple. I've never used Mathematica, but Maple has always sufficed for my (admittedly basic) needs.
    – bcat
    Oct 29, 2009 at 20:47
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Check Mathematica (www.wolfram.com). They have free versions to write/read technical documents (and you can export them to Latex).. namely, Mathematica Player

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I use MathCad which have a very intuitive way to write. You have a document where you can write text AND equations etc. And it does solving too. It looks a little old but is a great tool. I have also heard very nice things about Maple which is a little more lightweight.

MathCad and Maple is properly easier to learn because of the interface than Mathmatica.

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TeXmacs for WYSIWYG editing of equations, with LaTeX or image file output. It also interfaces with other software, like Maxima, to evaluate expressions.

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Maxima is a free-version of Mathematica/Maple.

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OpenOffice comes with a simple equation editor that will let you represent pretty much any formula. The syntax is easy to learn and you can export them to PDF. You will not be able to evaluate them using OpenOffice Math but WolframAlpha does an excelent job at that.

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