I’m playing around with SAS at moment.
It seems similar to an earlier version of SPSS insomuch as it is primarily driven via a command-line interface, though it does include a drop-down menu style graphic user interface (GUI). For example, one can use the GUI to do Principal Components Analysis (PCA) or factor analysis (Maximum likelihood?) but the command line interface is required if you want to rotate the factors. Again, it is possible to generate frequencies as per SPSS but without the SPSS option of copying the output to Word in tabbed or figure format.
What is of interest is Enterprise Miner. I’ve wanted access to data mining software for almost 10 years now, and this compilation of SAS (9.1.3) includes it along with a swag of other stuff.
As you’d know, data mining allows one to examine which of a swag of variables most significantly influence a designated target variable. This process is in some ways equivalent to stepwise regression except that the procedure can include an element of model fitting, complete with training and confirmatory subsets from the specified sample.
Of course, the process is not without hiccups. The steps required to do data mining ala Enterprise Miner are many and not all of them seem to function as advertised. But I live in hope.