SolidWorks:HEARD! - Episode 467 - SWW14: New Products

SWW14: New Products:

SolidWorks World 2014 came with quite the list of new products that are going to hit the scene soon and some closer to the launch of SolidWorks 2015 in the fall.  Topics covered:

New Product Announcements:

- SolidWorks Plastics Advanced - Design and analyze mold cooling line layouts and part warpage.  Announcement

- SolidWorks Inspection - Creation of Inspection reports, first articles (FAI) and ballooned drawings.  Announcement

- SolidWorks Mechanical Conceptual - Next generation concept tool on the 3DExperience Platform. Announcement

- SolidWorks Industrial Conceptual - Next generation industrial design tool on the 3DExperience Platform.

- Collaborative Sharing - Social portal in SolidWorks on the 3DExperience Platform.

- eDrawings Pro for Android - In-app upgrade for eDrawings to have markup, measure and Augmented Reality (AR).

- eDrawings Meetings - Live collaboration in eDrawings

Looking back through the years I cannot remember a year at SolidWorks World that there were more new products announcements  In fact, I think it is safe to say this was the most Dassault-inspired tools that have ever been shown on a SolidWorks World stage.

A few of the products were the evolution of existing products like SolidWorks plastics and eDrawings, however with some of the new products coming on Dassault's 3DExperience Platform, it was a product model that is brad new to the SolidWorks community.  Subscription-based software, hosted model database and connected teams.

Some of these products will make their way into the existing SolidWorks release and others will ship later in the year along with SolidWorks 2015.  It will be interesting to see how SolidWorks users will react to these new solutions and how/if they can implement them into their design workflows. ~Lou

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SolidWorks:Heard! - Episode 365 - New Release Checklist

New Release Checklist:

This podcast covers the some general steps to check before jumping into a brand new major release of SolidWorks and the various related products.  Topics covered:

- Upgrade or Uninstall/Reinstall?

- How to clean uninstall

- 3rd Party product checklist

- PDM checklist

- Homegrown tools/macros

- Other random checks

With the new release of SolidWorks 2012 now with a shiny new service pack 1 in queue, many companies take this milestone as a time to take the plunge.  Although some SolidWorks users are anxious to get the latest release on their systems to get some of the new features in hand, there are a few things to check before you jump in with two feet.

Personally as an early adopter, well....and the fact it is my job to dig into the latest software,  I do enjoy getting new software on my system and pushing it to the limit.  However, I also find that there are so many other products, tools and compatibility checks that should happen first to ensure a smooth transition.  Whether that is a 3rd party product you rely on or your favorite peripheral's drivers, all these things need to be weighed prior to launch.

I recently decided to clean out one of my testing systems after years of SolidWorks versions, beta builds, 3rd party products and trials.  I had 3 or 4 working version of SW, various toolbox builds and a number of tools that I had not touched in 4-5 years.  I really should nuke that system but decided to use it as a test for this show and a basis for those of you in the same situation. ~Lou

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