New users should try to find help locally from experienced modelers and consider using the same software. They should also check whether anyone has succeeded in running the selected program on the type of computer and system software that is going to be used. One cannot assume that a program that depends on the unix system will run without problems on any computer that uses unix. There are three categories of user interfaces. Some packages let the user alternate between 2 user interface types.
Most packages allow interactive control over the model, either by menu-driven dialogs or scripts.
Script interpreters offer a very flexible interface, but require learning of the script language. The newest user interfaces allow graphic control over model description and display. Detailed neuronal models have nowadays about 1000 compartments and multiple channels. All packages can store the model description in a file, but only a few programs can import morphology files produced by different neuron tracing programs, which will often be the source of the morphological data. Modelers interested in the passive electronic structure of large neurons will find functions to automatically lump parts of the dendritic tree into single compartments helpful.