The default version of Stata is Stata 13, though that will soon be changed to Stata 14. Stata versions 12, 13 and 14 are available for use.
Stata is a statistical software package that was created for general use. It is common to find people using this product if they are apart of an NGO or doing a study related to the social sciences. This statical analysis program has multiple strengths. For starters, the learning curve isn’t as steep as it is with other similar products. Stata is a complete, integrated statistical software package that provides everything you need for data analysis, data management, and graphics. Stata is not sold in pieces, which means you get everything you need in one package.
Can analyze data sets with as many as 32,767 variables, and the only limit on observations is the amount of RAM on your computer. Maximum length of a string variable is 244 characters. Matrices may be up to 11,000 by 11,000.
Stata has an excellent help system. Type help at the command prompt if you know the name of the command you want help with. If you don't know the command name, but you have a topic you'd like more information about, you can use the search command. For example, if you were interested in finding out how to graph the Kaplan-Meier survivor function, you might use . search kaplan-meier
to search for an appropriate command to do so.
If you are using the graphical version (xstata), search and help are both available from the Help menu.
Stata provides a lot of good information on the Stata Support website.