We recently bought a Vantage from an auction. Although we haven’t yet connected to the computer, it is safe to say that the instrument is controlled by Instinct V since it also came with a physical disk of the software. I looked through the forum and it appears that general consensus is that most prefer the Venus software even for the Vantage line.
I am curious as to why and how different Instinct V is compared to Venus since this is our first instrument with this software. That, and I would like to know ahead of time.
INSTINCT V is a completely differnet software than VENUS in look, feel, functionality, back end, communication, etc. It is entirely new.
There has been lots of discussion about INSTICT path forward, especially in the USA. Given that, and now that basically all functions of the VANTAGE are exposed (TrackGripper, IPG, QCG, EE’s, etc) in VENUS 6 (and VoV) and based on my experience with both software’s would highly recommend VENUS versus INSTINCT but I cannot wait for @EricSindelar_Hamilton to chime in.
Also, congrats on your new VANTAGE! They are great instruments!
Development for INSTINCT V ended earlier last year with version 2.3 QF2. All current and future development for the VANTAGE platform focuses on VENUS. Our training program only covers VENUS software, so support options for INSTINCT V will be limited.
My recommendation would be to upgrade to the lastest version of VENUS which incorporates the VANTAGE platform.
We have a Vantage that’s routinely used in our lab that’s still running on INSTINCT V. I’d ideally like to upgrade the software to VENUS 6, but because this Vantage is a workhorse of the lab, some folks are hesitant about doing the upgrade. Is it a lot of work to transfer the methods from INSTINCT V to VENUS? What are the things to consider before doing this? The goal would be to minimize or eliminate any downtime for this instrument. I’ve never worked with INSTINCT before so this is a black box to me!
If it’s working for you as is, then you can leave it on INSTINCT V. However, if you need to update to Windows 11 down the line and/or if you need to bring new methods online, then I would recommend planning for the upgrade to VENUS. Unfortunately, INSTINCT V methods can’t be converted to VENUS so your methods along with any custom labware definitions would have to be created anew. Liquid class and method settings could be repurposed, but there is no automated way of transferring such settings either.
My recommendation would be to reach out to your local sales and support teams to start planning the upgrade to VENUS. Procure a new Win 11 computer with VENUS and get the brunt of the methods drafted and ready to test when you can perform the switch - you may need updated firmware for compatiblity with the latest version of VENUS so you may not be able to just simply switch between the different computers to perform such testing. It’s best to work out such details with the local team though so you can best determine your options and minimize your downtime as much as possible. Please let me know if you need any help getting in touch with them!