SolidWorks:HEARD! - Episode 461 - My.SolidWorks Refresh

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My.SolidWorks Refresh: 

This podcast covers the recent updates to the new My.SolidWorks, the content aggregator that debuted at SolidWorks World 2013.   Topics covered:

- At a glance, what has changed

- Added features for those who sign in

- Navigation and sharing updates

- Mobile experience

- Impressions and suggestions

Back in February I covered My.SolidWorks in its early days and there were a number of issues including missing content and lack of support for mobile.  Today a few of these things have been addressed and it appears to be adding some useful content segments.  

One major addition is mobile support.  This seems to work well and is the way I typically check the site.  Whether you are on a phone, tablet or even a smaller screen laptop, the new site scales well with it's Windows 8-like tiles, making it easy to hit touch targets with my big fingers.

Despite the new additions and increased device support, something still feels missing to me.  As many of you know, I am not considered a "normal user" but I wish I could put in my own content links too.  It seems like the content that put SolidWorks on the map on the web would be bloggers and their content is missing here.  I wish I could at least add my own feeds to the interface and make it truly the one stop for SolidWorks content. ~Lou

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SolidWorks:Heard! - Episode 346 - CAD Mobility

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CAD Mobility:

This podcast covers the challenge of getting access to our CAD & engineering tools when we are on the go. Web-based apps can do a lot more than people give credit and I found a way to live on the web and still access all my tools all in the browser! Topics covered:

- Importance of mobile access

- Mobile apps vs Web apps (pros/cons)

- Findings using the Chromebook for a month

- Using SparkGateway to access my thick-client engineering tools

- Remote Desktop access with clients vs client-less

With my Chromebook experiment in full swing (just over a month now), I have been looking for ways to access the tools and services that I only have access on my workstation.  With the popularity of mobile computing and access from anywhere, I wanted to find a way to get to my workstation tools without the need for device specific clients and solutions to achieve this goal.

When it comes to mobile apps, they all achieve one goal and that is to deliver the best experience for that service or tool on the device you are on.  The unfortunate drawback is the experience is different for each device (desktop, tablet, netbook or phone).  This is why I am much more a fan of web apps and how they can be taylored by device but be streamlined by every experience.

Finding RemoteSpark, a Canadian-based company which specializes in the best remote access tools, has delivered a full HTML5 tool that doesn't run any code on the client or the RDP host.  Their SparkGateway, a lightweight JAVA-based app, runs and can allow full desktop access all through the browser.  This gives all of my devices, desktop, laptop, netbook, tablet, phone, and Chromebook,  the same access to those tools that are not yet on the cloud. ~Lou

Remember to check out the SolidWorks: Heard! Blog and to follow me on Twitter, Facebook and THE HEaRD! 

SolidWorks:Heard! - Episode 341 - EPDM Wish List

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EPDM Wish List:

This podcast coves my SolidWorks Enterprise PDM wish list of features I would like to see in future EPDM version to come based on the common request from customers.  Topics covered:

- Tech News followup - SW Support FAQ - July 2011

- Setting revision counters for legacy data

- Jumping or manually skipping revisions

- Notifications based on timers

- Universal web access (non-IE and mobile friendly)

Right after recording last Sunday, Monday SolidWorks pushed out the Support Monthly FAQ and I wanted to go over that before getting into my wish list.  Details on beta and some new new support articles around the release of SolidWorks 2011 SP4. SWSMFAQ is one of the highlight blog posts on the SolidWorks Forum for me and a key part of the tech news I wanted to get out.

This "Wish List" is a short list of common requests from customers of SolidWorks Enterprise PDM that seem to be requested regularly.  Since many customers are typically coming from another PDM system or no PDM system at all, getting their data into EPDM at the right revision counter is very common.  Today many of us who implement this tool use the API and build custom add-ins to achive these requests.

I am a fan of the API and the add-in framework EPDM has, however I first try to use the "out of the box" functionality first to ensure better upgrade compatibility and also to avoid having to maintain an additional code base for the add-in itself.  A few other requests seem to come up a lot from companies coming from WPDM, which have some of these feature already.  ~Lou

Remember to check out the SolidWorks: Heard! Blog and to follow me on Twitter, Facebook and THE HEaRD!