Stata/SE, Intercooled Stata and Small Stata (available only to academic institutions) differ in the size of the dataset that each one can analyze. Stata/MP is a parallel-processing-capable version of Stata/SE . Here is a general guideline:

• Stata/MP (Stata/MP 2 for dual processors and Stata/MP 4 for 4 processors)— The fastest version of Stata (for dual-core and multicore/multiprocessor computers)
• Stata/SE—Stata for large datasets
  
• Stata/IC—the "standard" version of Stata
• Small Stata – A smaller, "student" version of Stata

Stata/MP is the fastest and largest version of Stata. Most computers purchased since mid 2006 can take advantage of the advanced multiprocessing of Stata/MP. This includes the Intel CoreTM Duo and the AMD X2 dual-core chips. On dual-core chips, Stata/MP runs 40% faster overall and 72% faster where it matters, on the time-consuming estimation commands. With more than two cores or processors, Stata/MP is even faster.

Stata/SE, Stata/IC, and Small Stata differ in the dataset size that each can analyze. Stata/SE and Stata/MP allow datasets with up to 32,767 variables. The number of observations is limited only by the amount of RAM in your computer. Stata/SE and Stata/MP allow matrices up to 11,000 x 11,000 on computers with sufficient memory. An implication of this is that Stata/SE and Stata/MP can fit models with more independent variables (up to 10,998).

Stata/IC allows datasets with as many as 2,047 variables. The number of observations is limited only by the amount of RAM in your computer. Stata/IC can have at most 798 right-hand-side variables in a model.

Small Stata is limited to analyzing datasets with a maximum of 99 variables on approximately 1,000 observations. Small Stata can have at most 38 right-hand-side variables in a model.