I took a quick pass at implementing the comparisons in a more suitable
lanugage.  Run time is now a few seconds on both platforms.  About the
same as compare_tests on my old ibook/OSX and much faster on FC3.
Trials show the same results as before.

For anyone interested, the new version is attached.
Jim.

-- 
Jim Lemke   jwlemke@wasabisystems.com   Orillia, Ontario