09年有一本写给菜鸟的书--basic statistics,书中也说到这个问题
Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind is that the choice of software can be crucial, particularly when the goal is to apply new and improved methods developed during the last half century. Presumably no software package is best, based on all of the criteria that might be used to judge them, but the following comments might help.
Excellent software
The software R is one of the two best software packages available. Moreover, it is free and available at
http://cran.R-project.org. All modern methods developed in recent years, as well as all classic techniques, are easily applied. One feature that makes R highly valuable from a research perspective is that a group of academics do an excellent job of constantly adding and updating routines aimed at applying modern techniques.
A wide range of modern methods can be applied using the basic package. And many specialized methods are available via packages available at the R web site. A library of R functions especially designed for applying the newest methods for comparing groups and studying associations is available at www-rcf.usc.edu/˜rwilcox/.1 Although not the focus here, occasionally the name of some of these functions will be mentioned when illustrating some of the important features of modern methods. (Unless stated otherwise, whenever the name of an R function is supplied, it is a function that belongs
to the two files Rallfunv1-v7 and Rallfunv2-v7, which can be downloaded from the site just mentioned.)
S-PLUS is another excellent software package. It is nearly identical to R and the basic commands are the same. One of the main differences is cost: S-PLUS can be very expensive. There are a few differences from R, but generally they are minor and of little importance when applying the methods covered in this book. (The R functions mentioned in this book are available as S-PLUS functions, which are stored in the files allfunv1-v7 and allfunv2-v7 and which can be downloaded in the same manner as the files Rallfunv1-v7 and Rallfunv2-v7.)
Very good software
SAS is another software package that provides power and excellent flexibility. Many modern methods can be applied, but a large number of the most recently developed techniques are not yet available via SAS. SAS code could be easily written by anyone reasonably familiar with SAS, and the company is fairly diligent about upgrading the routines in their package, but this has not been done as yet for some of the methods to be described.
Good software
Minitab .......................
Unsatisfactory software
SPSS .......................
EXCEL .....................