SolidWorks 2008 previews

     Recently I had attended a SolidWorks 2008 release event. The turn out was great. There were over 100 users in attendance and we all seemed to appreciate various features and improvements. At this point probably many of you have previewed the release in Beta, pre-release or other blogs and articles. In my discussions with several users at the event, none of them seemed to will be moving to 2008 in the next month. I do plan on getting this new release installed and running by the first or second week of November.

     Not only is there a new look to the user interface but numerous commands can be accessed from the design area, eliminating some extra mouse movement (a minor benefit). In our current 2007 environment I get calls from users that are frustrated with errors and conflicts. In 2008 one improvement is the ability to identify over-defining constraints and providing logical solutions and alternative suggestions to resolve the conflict. Fillet commands have been improved with the use of filter selection tools and the ability to grab multiple fillets in same size fillet design on the model. The new fillet expert provides alternate fillet options and selections  of surfaces/features. Live section is a new function which I think will aid in creating multiple designs from existing models of products and components. There were a number of partners on hand as well. What I thought has been a pleasant surprise is how SW and the partners have maintained sight on how everything works with PDMWorks Workgroup. There was information on the Enterprise edition which was well received. I am focused on the PDMWWorkgroup and I think SW and the SW partners maintained that focus adequately as well.

     I look forward to getting the admin images setup and deployed. I do have concerns with the new administration tools as they are more automated and less configuration "hands on". Deploying on an individual license and machine installation seems less of a concern than a network image and deployment. This will be my next blog in the future......what I think of the new admin deploying tool set.